as in romantic
having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality
idealistic pacifists who thought that tyranny could be toppled by rational argument and mutual understanding
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of idealistic
With the gun-toting and tormented Ghoul and the still idealistic Lucy roaming the desert in search of very different kinds of justice, Fallout Season 2 gets to explore whether the (admittedly primitive) Wasteland needs to be saved by people who'd only save part of humanity and fear free will.
—
Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 16 Dec. 2025
Not even an idealistic young political whiz can summon the conditions of the past or other continents.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Dec. 2025
What began as an idealistic goal—moving adult smokers off of cigarettes—turned into a new epidemic.
—Max Cunningham, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2025
In classic Brooksian fashion, this simple succession plan becomes complicated by a potential scandal involving her social climber husband (Jack Lowden), the sudden return of her womanizing father (Woody Harrelson), and, well, Ella McCay’s own stubbornly idealistic personality.
—Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 10 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealistic
Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 16 Dec. 2025
Not even an idealistic young political whiz can summon the conditions of the past or other continents.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Dec. 2025
What began as an idealistic goal—moving adult smokers off of cigarettes—turned into a new epidemic.
—Max Cunningham, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2025
In classic Brooksian fashion, this simple succession plan becomes complicated by a potential scandal involving her social climber husband (Jack Lowden), the sudden return of her womanizing father (Woody Harrelson), and, well, Ella McCay’s own stubbornly idealistic personality.
—Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 10 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealistic
Adjective
-
While Paris is often framed as endlessly romantic, Wells says the day-to-day realities can be isolating.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Safe to say a breakup album is off the table, as the artist is back in her romantic era.—
Emily Kelleher,
InStyle,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Nothing’s as sobering to an impractical but fun idea as having to foot the bill.—
Boston Herald editorial staff,
Boston Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
-
By increasing effective gravity, researchers can accelerate years or even decades of structural and geological stress into just a few hours, enabling experiments that would be impractical in the real world.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Sagittarius is an idealist sign that can totally relate to this tale of enduring relationships.—
Lisa Stardust,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
-
The contact with and dependence on such support arguably also bolstered art’s worldliness and acted as an antidote to the petit bourgeois affinity for idealist mystification.—
Diedrich Diederichsen,
Artforum,
1 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Urbano’s installations, radically utopian in this sense, re-create ideal spaces free from the spatiotemporal coordinates and rigid laws that govern our daily lives.—
Javier Montes,
Artforum,
1 Jan. 2026
-
This is a scrapbook of utopian folly, yes, but also an insider’s look at what was, for a time, the wildest workplace on Earth.—
Andrew Holter,
The Atlantic,
31 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Idealistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealistic. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share