idealist

UK: /aɪˈdɪəlɪst/ US: (ī dē′ə list)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

i•de•al•ist  (ī dē′ə list), n. 

1. a person who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.
2. a visionary or impractical person.
3. a person who represents things as they might or should be rather than as they are.
4. Fine Art, Literature a writer or artist who treats subjects imaginatively.
5. a person who accepts the doctrines of idealism.

adj. 

6. idealistic.

• ideal + -ist 1695–1705

Synonyms

• 2. . romantic, dreamer, stargazer.

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

i•de•al•ism /aɪˈdiəˌlɪzəm/   n. [uncountable]

1. the belief that one should follow or try to achieve ideals:
   youthful idealism.

i•de•al•ist, n. [countable]
i•de•al•is•tic, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

i•de•al•ism  (ī dē′ə liz′əm), n. 

1. the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.
2. the practice of idealizing.
3. something idealized;
   an ideal representation.
4. Fine Art treatment of subject matter in a work of art in which a mental conception of beauty or form is stressed, characterized usually by the selection of particular features of various models and their combination into a whole according to a standard of perfection. Cf. naturalism (def. 2), realism (def. 3a).
5. Philosophy
   • Philosophy any system or theory that maintains that the real is of the nature of thought or that the object of external perception consists of ideas.
   • Philosophy the tendency to represent things in an ideal form, or as they might or should be rather than as they are, with emphasis on values.

• ideal + -ism, probably modeled on German Idealismus 1790–1800