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
Relevance
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of idealist
Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2025
In the new release, Temple plays idealist scientist Dr. Teddy Paine opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor’s General Rex Strickland — the overseer of a secret research facility dedicated to symbiotes.
—Raven Brunner, People.com, 25 Oct. 2024
Trey Williams, HollywoodReporter, 14 Dec. 2025
Some idealists set out to build a new community from scratch.
—Big Think, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealist
Adjective
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
In the new release, Temple plays idealist scientist Dr. Teddy Paine opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor’s General Rex Strickland — the overseer of a secret research facility dedicated to symbiotes.
—Raven Brunner, People.com, 25 Oct. 2024
Noun
Linda’s an idealist and Norma’s a realist.
—Trey Williams, HollywoodReporter, 14 Dec. 2025
Some idealists set out to build a new community from scratch.
—Big Think, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealist
Adjective
-
Church depicted the high arch, which sits on land once owned by Thomas Jefferson, with scientific precision yet in a romantic, golden light.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
The news broke the hearts of passionate regulars, who had flocked to the restaurant for family milestones, business dinners, romantic evenings and girls’ nights out since 1999.—
Connie Ogle
May 2,
Miami Herald,
2 May 2026
Noun
-
Konkoly, who is herself a lucid dreamer, told study participants to try working on the puzzle while asleep that night.—
Shayla Love,
New Yorker,
1 May 2026
-
Others — the dreamers and grinders, as Spencer Nusbaum described yesterday — have to take second jobs to make ends meet while toiling away in minor-league baseball.—
Chris Branch,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
This anger crackles around him like a smoldering fire, igniting and engulfing everyone from the workers on his farm, his meek sister Férula (Fernanda Castillo), to Clara and, eventually, to their daughter, Blanca (Sara Becker and later Fernanda Urrejola), Alba’s idealistic mother.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Edward Montoya plays Fingal as an idealistic young writer, fresh out of Harvard, with little practical experience but a lot of ability and gumption.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Scientists typically test candidates one by one, making large-scale discovery impractical.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
23 Apr. 2026
-
And it’s set in a snowy wintertime, which would have been impractical and expensive in live action, but pays all kinds of benefits in terms of staging and mood.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But whereas leftist thinkers starting with Marx saw the liberal ideal as totally discredited, a mere camouflage for capitalist power, Habermas kept faith with the utopian potential of liberalism.—
Adam Kirsch,
The Atlantic,
3 May 2026
-
There’s a cognitive dissonance between the utopian hope and love in which a story is created, the gift economy for which it’s intended as a sort of sacred offering, and the materialist reality of publishing, with sales figures and publicity, et cetera.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Idealist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealist. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
