realist

noun re·al·ist \ ˈrē-ə-list \

Updated on: 19 May 2018

Definition of realist

plural realists

1 : a person who recognizes what is real or possible in a particular situation : one who accepts and deals with things as they really are

a political realist

She considers herself a realist when it comes to parenting.

2 : a person (such as a writer or painter) who adheres to a style of realism by representing things in a way faithful to nature or to real life

Chekhov was essentially more of a realist than Dostoevski, whose force often lay in a strong proclivity to melodrama …
—Roger Shattuck

See realist defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of realist from the Web

Though the tension remains throughout, The Rain walks a difficult line between the fantastical and the realist, and with every episode the plot loses steam.

— josephine livingstone, The New Republic, "Something Is Damp in the State of Denmark," 11 May 2018
There’s a strangely realist immediacy to the meat paintings.

— peter schjeldahl, The New Yorker, "The Vulnerable Ferocity of Chaim Soutine," 7 May 2018
Robert Silverman | The Outline | May 10, 2018 | 18 minutes (4,648 words) With a handshake for a contract and a flat fee, a prominent realist painter created a problem that still bothers him at the end of his long successful career.

— Longreads, "The Top 5 Longreads of the Week," 4 May 2018
The president is a realist who believes that international relations are both highly competitive and zero-sum.

— walter russell mead, WSJ, "Trump’s Realist Syria Strategy," 16 Apr. 2018
Certainly a lot of TNG represents realist fandom, as do Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

— annalee newitz, Ars Technica, "Star Trek: Discovery ends the season with a bang (and a whimper)," 13 Feb. 2018
Both idealists and realists, Wolitzer’s characters would like to see a better world but find precious little room for principled choices.

— michelle dean, The New Republic, "Tensions between two generations of feminists animate Meg Wolitzer’s novel.," 12 Apr. 2018
This reality has prompted disparate reactions among his opponents, who can divided between pessimists (or realists, some might say) and optimists.

— jeet heer, New Republic, "The Weak, Effective Authoritarian," 25 Jan. 2018
Since the Vietnam War, the GOP has had three major foreign policy wings: prudential realists, neoconservatives, and radical nationalists.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Scarier Than a Neoconserative," 23 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'realist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of realist

1547

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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realist

adjective

Definition of realist

: in the style of realism : faithful in representation to nature or to real life

realist paintings

Though a number of Dahl's most engaging stories, particularly in his early career, are cast in a realist mode, his reputation is that of a writer of macabre, blackly jocose tales …
—Joyce Carol Oates

Recent Examples of realist from the Web

Children of Blood and Bone also draws on a very different, realist approach that has claimed attention in mainstream young-adult fiction in the post-Ferguson era.

— vann r. newkirk ii, The Atlantic, "Where Fantasy Meets Black Lives Matter," 6 Mar. 2018

First Known Use of realist

1853

in the meaning defined above

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