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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of idealist
Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2024
The film’s first trailer released on Monday, featuring Adam Driver as an idealist architect up against Giancarlo Esposito as a pragmatist mayor.
—Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 May 2024
Richard Stengel, Time, 16 Aug. 2025
But Loktev is quick to correct anyone who perceives My Undesirable Friends as a snapshot of idealists under duress.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealist
Adjective
The movie stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect with the power to control time, who is determined to rebuild a city that seems like New York after an accident plunges it into ruins.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2024
The film’s first trailer released on Monday, featuring Adam Driver as an idealist architect up against Giancarlo Esposito as a pragmatist mayor.
—Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 May 2024
Noun
This is the classic foreign policy term, in contrast to a foreign policy idealist, whose legacy comes from Woodrow Wilson and his quest for a League of Nations.
—Richard Stengel, Time, 16 Aug. 2025
But Loktev is quick to correct anyone who perceives My Undesirable Friends as a snapshot of idealists under duress.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealist
Adjective
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That sensibility is countered by Dina’s, who plays the romantic foil to Liberty’s pessimist.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
5 Nov. 2025
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Williams and Preti’s love story first made headlines in the summer of 2024 when the pair were spotted enjoying a romantic boat trip along Italy’s Amalfi Coast.—
Elizabeth Ayoola,
Essence,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In January, Zapata will open a flight center near Las Vegas, where dreamers can fly on a geofenced track that winds around the roughly 50-acre property.—
J. George Gorant,
Robb Report,
24 Oct. 2025
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Throughout the 1970s, as much as Nicholson’s rebels or Beatty’s hopeless romantics, Keaton’s optimistic dreamers repeatedly collided with the realities of the times, measuring the distance between what the counterculture thought was possible and what the world would actually allow.—
Tim Grierson,
Rolling Stone,
11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In a similar vein, pardon the pun, comes this Frank Wildhorn gothic musical about a Victorian-era doctor with two personalities, one an idealistic doctor, the other an evil murderer.—
Abby Hamblin,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Oct. 2025
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Set in the Deep South, the film follows Coach Walt McFadden, played by Michael Mosley (Ozark), a talented but idealistic assistant coach at Louisiana University who’s out of second chances.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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If there’s a force majeure clause in the new rights contracts that allows the NBA’s media partners to temporarily halt running sportsbook ads when an unforeseeable event makes such airings impractical, it’s hidden under a tide of black ink.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
24 Oct. 2025
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Robots have become indispensable in environments where high radiation or structural complexity makes human intervention dangerous or impractical.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The film, written by Barbosa alongside Werner Salles, is set in 1695 and sees a family of slaves organize a rebellion to flee in search of the utopian Quilombo dos Palmares following a call from the spiritual helm.—
Rafa Sales Ross,
Variety,
3 Nov. 2025
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Flood’s playwright is haunted by the fact that her mother, like many in the movement, did eventually meet a man, settle down, and compromise on utopian ambitions to raise her kids.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Idealist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealist. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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