Actual has respect to a thing accomplished by doing, real to a thing as existing by whatever means or from whatever cause, positive to that which is fixed or established, developed to that which has reached completion by a natural process of unfolding.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

adult An adult tooth came in right next to a baby tooth.
matured Tom's matured a fair bit in the last few years.
improved It has greatly improved compared with what it was.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
developed		falling
adult		steady
matured		steady
improved		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: big¹
4 letters: ripe¹
5 letters: adult²
6 letters: mature², choate¹
7 letters: matured²
8 letters: advanced², improved²
14 letters: industrialized⁵, industrialised

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (adult² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: développé