idealist

1 of 2

noun

ide·al·ist ī-ˈdē-(ə-)list

ˈī-(ˌ)dē-

Synonyms of idealist next

: one guided by ideals

especially : one that places ideals before practical considerations

: an adherent of a philosophical theory of idealism

: an artist or author who advocates or practices idealism in art or writing

idealist

2 of 2

Example Sentences

Noun an idealist sees the best in everyone, regardless of how they behave Adjective an idealist attempt to make a go of a mom-and-pop hardware store on Main Street

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Zuckerberg is a dominator and an idealist. —

Siva Vaidhyanathan, Wired, 3 June 2020 My point in posting this is not to demand that everyone become an idealist, jumping into the fray where angels fear to tread. —

Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 11 Oct. 2012 But that might be an idealist's fancy. —

Ross Douthat New York Times, Star Tribune, 23 Sep. 2020 But its shortcomings are essentially those of the novel: its single-track didacticism; its neat pitting of romantic idealists against macho, insentient normies; and the fact that a decisive plot twist can be spotted a mile off. —

Houman Barekat, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023 But Segal is an idealist, with a point to prove. —

Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2022 Diane Lockhart is an idealist, too. —

Scott Tobias, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2021 But when his career stalls and he is given an opportunity to do on-site research in Western Africa, Hoffmann the idealist becomes morally complicit in the atrocities committed by the colonial authorities. —

Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Mar. 2023 But there are also young idealists and those who want to be reunited with partners and their families. —

Cassie Werber, Quartz, 24 Feb. 2023

Adjective

But even his aspirations to idealist fantasy would be short-lived. —

Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Apr. 2023 Her sing-songy voice is the perfect vessel for Ephron's eloquent dialogue, which makes the character an endlessly charming romantic and idealist, perfectly balancing humorous cynicism and sincere emotion. —

Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 27 Feb. 2023 But if some nations have proven susceptible to toxic idealist nonsense, Americans have become more and more receptive to toxic pragmatic nonsense. —

Mark Edmundson, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Dec. 2022 So believes David Sarif, idealist, philanthropist, founder and CEO of Sarif Industries. —

Kyle Munkittrick, Discover Magazine, 2 June 2011 No other festival or event has done more to nurture, develop and celebrate the idealist peculiarities and cultural eccentricities of modern festival culture quite like the merry men and women of Glastonbury. —

Dave Brooks, Billboard, 28 June 2022 The story follows Mickey Haller (Garcia-Rulfo), an iconoclastic idealist criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles who runs his practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln. —

Dana Feldman, Forbes, 26 May 2022 The appeal of far-left ideology, with its idealist cast, is, to the French, particularly to French youth, a cultural constant. —

Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Apr. 2022 But Nakagin truly fit the bill: a building that became a symbol of architecture’s most idealist tendencies and of Tokyo itself. —

Carolina A. Mirandacolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'idealist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.