a
: a person concerned with practical matters and results rather than theories and ideals
… more than anything else, he is a pragmatist who urged those around him to be more keenly attuned to the real-life impact of decisions. This may be his distinguishing quality as a legal thinker: an unwillingness to deal in abstraction, a constant desire to know how court decisions affect people's lives.—
Jodi Kantor, New York Times, 3 May 2009
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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