Synonyms of idealist

idealist 1 of 2

adjective

as in romantic

having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality

an idealist attempt to make a go of a mom-and-pop hardware store on Main Street

Synonyms & Similar Words

• romantic
• idealistic
• impractical
• utopian
• ideological
• quixotic
• optimistic
• visionary
• starry-eyed
• hopeful
• starry
• quixotical
• zealous
• sentimental
• unrealistic
• messianic
• crusading
• doctrinaire
• tender-minded
• rosy
• moony
• Pollyannaish
• moonstruck
• upbeat
• dewy-eyed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pragmatic
• hardheaded
• unsentimental
• practical
• realistic
• clear-eyed
• clear-sighted
• tough-minded
• hard-nosed

idealist

2 of 2

noun

ī-ˈdē-(ə-)list 

as in dreamer

one whose conduct is guided more by the image of perfection than by the real world

an idealist sees the best in everyone, regardless of how they behave

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dreamer
• romantic
• romanticist
• visionary
• ideologue
• utopian
• Don Quixote
• idealizer
• optimist
• sentimentalist
• theorist
• fantast
• daydreamer
• emotionalist
• Pollyanna
• perfectionist
• reformer
• thinker
• do-gooder
• Micawber
• fantasizer
• doctrinaire
• woolgatherer

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• realist
• pragmatist
• cynic
• pessimist
• defeatist
• empiricist
• hardnose
• empiric

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of idealist

Adjective

This, in turn, becomes logically reliant on the idealist paradigm of Consciousness as the fundamental lowest common denominator of reality. — Carlo Tortora Brayda, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025

Labour leader Starmer, though, has taken a realist rather than an idealist approach to the president, putting Britain's foreign policy interests above the strong opposition to Trump in the rank and file of his own party. — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2025

Noun

Gorton skillfully depicts the grueling decades-long struggle of Sanger (the icon, in this telling) and Dennett (the idealist) to make birth control available and legal, as well as their interpersonal competition for power and influence. — Literary Hub, 20 Mar. 2026

So the real political question was whether maritime merchants like Willing—outraged by British bullying but with little appetite for political revolution—would ultimately throw in their lot with the radicals and the idealists. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2026