as in dreamers
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
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Recent Examples of idealists
At least there were idealists who dreamed such fancies, and their dreams were the pretext for creating this nation.
—
Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
Some idealists set out to build a new community from scratch.
—Big Think, 6 Nov. 2025
And the call isn’t just coming from idealists this time – the prestigious science journal Nature is also now arguing for a global rail revival – not as a nostalgic nod to the past, but as a pragmatic cornerstone of climate strategy.
—Chelsea Haney
october 25, New Atlas, 25 Oct. 2025
Of the roiling mass of restless natives, cranky artists and tattered idealists who rose up across the Southland this summer to flip off darkness and call America back to its better angels?
—John Lopez, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
But Loktev is quick to correct anyone who perceives My Undesirable Friends as a snapshot of idealists under duress.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2025
Some idealists set out to build a new community from scratch.
—Big Think, 6 Nov. 2025
And the call isn’t just coming from idealists this time – the prestigious science journal Nature is also now arguing for a global rail revival – not as a nostalgic nod to the past, but as a pragmatic cornerstone of climate strategy.
—Chelsea Haney
october 25, New Atlas, 25 Oct. 2025
Of the roiling mass of restless natives, cranky artists and tattered idealists who rose up across the Southland this summer to flip off darkness and call America back to its better angels?
—John Lopez, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
But Loktev is quick to correct anyone who perceives My Undesirable Friends as a snapshot of idealists under duress.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealists
dreamers
Noun
-
But the grandness of these dreams butts up against the precarity that their dreamers are facing.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
21 Feb. 2026
-
Then, dreamers believed Lindsey Vonn, skating with a torn ACL, could navigate the women’s downhill to the medal podium.—
John Cherwa,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Idealists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealists. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
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