Synonyms of idealist

idealist 1 of 2

adjective

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

• romantic
• idealistic
• impractical
• utopian
• ideological
• quixotic
• optimistic
• visionary
• starry-eyed
• hopeful
• starry
• quixotical
• zealous
• sentimental
• unrealistic
• messianic
• crusading
• doctrinaire
• tender-minded
• rosy
• moony
• Pollyannaish
• moonstruck
• upbeat
• dewy-eyed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pragmatic
• hardheaded
• unsentimental
• practical
• realistic
• clear-eyed
• clear-sighted
• tough-minded
• hard-nosed

idealist

2 of 2

noun

ī-ˈdē-(ə-)list 

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

• dreamer
• romantic
• romanticist
• visionary
• ideologue
• utopian
• Don Quixote
• idealizer
• optimist
• sentimentalist
• theorist
• fantast
• daydreamer
• emotionalist
• Pollyanna
• perfectionist
• reformer
• thinker
• do-gooder
• Micawber
• fantasizer
• doctrinaire
• woolgatherer

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• realist
• pragmatist
• cynic
• pessimist
• defeatist
• empiricist
• hardnose
• empiric

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of idealist

Adjective

Former president Mohammad Khatami has positioned himself as both an idealist and defensive regional power balancer. — Farideh Farhi, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2013

This, in turn, becomes logically reliant on the idealist paradigm of Consciousness as the fundamental lowest common denominator of reality. — Carlo Tortora Brayda, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025

Noun

Both a business and a calling Independent bookselling, rarely a way to get rich, is a meeting ground for idealists — for young people with a sense of mission, retirees embarking on a new life or middle-aged people no longer satisfied with their careers. — Hillel Italie, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026

Gorton skillfully depicts the grueling decades-long struggle of Sanger (the icon, in this telling) and Dennett (the idealist) to make birth control available and legal, as well as their interpersonal competition for power and influence. — Literary Hub, 20 Mar. 2026