naturalistic

adjective

nat·​u·​ral·​is·​tic ˌna-ch(ə-)rə-ˈli-stik 

variants or less commonly naturalist

ˈna-ch(ə-)rə-list 

: of, characterized by, or according with naturalism

naturalistically

ˌna-ch(ə-)rə-ˈli-sti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• realistic
• lifelike
• three-dimensional
• natural
• vivid
• living

Examples of naturalistic in a Sentence

The zoo strives to create naturalistic settings for the animals.

the movie's volcanic eruption is so naturalistic that it's easy to forget that it all came out of a computer

Recent Examples on the Web

This naturalistic garden has almost half native plants and half non-native, but is an oasis in the middle of the city. —Janet B. Carson, Arkansas Online, 29 June 2025

For decades, Kahneman and Gary Klein, a psychologist who researches naturalistic decision-making, had a running disagreement about whether human intuition could be trusted. —Gabriel Snyder, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 June 2025

Minervini’s naturalistic, observational style is on display from the film’s first scene, which lingers on a pack of wolves meticulously digging into an animal carcass. —Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2025

Just outside, the brick terrace steps down to grassy area amid a naturalistic landscape. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for naturalistic

• anachronistic
• animalistic
• antagonistic
• antiphlogistic
• behavioristic
• cannibalistic
• capitalistic
• characteristic
• collectivistic
• deterministic
• ethnolinguistic
• expressionistic