Meaning & use
idealist
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person who holds high standards and hopes for a better world and lets these principles guide their actions, sometimes ignoring what is practical.
Grammar: A countable person noun: she is an idealist, many idealists.
Patterns
- an idealist about something
As a young idealist, she volunteered to teach in a remote village.
He was an idealist who believed every problem had a fair solution.
Idealists often struggle when budgets are tight.
nouncountablespecialist
In philosophy, someone who believes that reality is mainly shaped by ideas or the mind rather than by physical matter.
Grammar: A specialist term in philosophy, usually contrasted with a materialist.
The philosophy student wrote about the views of an early idealist.
An idealist argues that the mind shapes what we call reality.
In the seminar, the idealists and materialists debated for an hour.
Word forms
| plural | idealists |
|---|
Common combinations
- young idealist
- The young idealist quit her job to join a charity.
- starry-eyed idealist
- Critics called him a starry-eyed idealist with no plan.
- incurable idealist
- I am an incurable idealist and still believe in fair play.
- naive idealist
- A naive idealist may be disappointed by politics.
- political idealist
- The political idealist refused to compromise on the law.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dreamer
- Dreamer stresses being out of touch with reality, while idealist suggests principled hope that may be admirable.
- visionary
- Visionary praises someone who sees future possibilities and may act on them, whereas an idealist may simply hold high hopes.
- utopian
- Utopian points to a belief in a perfect society and is often more critical than idealist.
- romantic
- Romantic stresses feelings and a rosy view of life rather than a commitment to principles.
Opposites
Word family
- ideal noun
- a perfect standard to aim for
- idealism noun
- the habit of living by high principles
- idealistic adjective
- holding or showing high ideals
- idealize verb
- to treat something as better than it is
Commonly confused: idealist or idealist vs. ideologist? idealist or idealistic vs. idealist?
idealist vs idealist vs. ideologist
An ideologist promotes a particular set of political or social ideas, while an idealist is guided by high ideals in general.
idealist vs idealistic vs. idealist
Idealistic is the adjective, and idealist is the person.
Practice
A person who quits a well-paid job to work for a cause they believe in, despite the risks, might be called an ___.
Choose one answer.
An idealist acts on principles even when it is not practical. An opportunist would pursue personal gain, and a skeptic doubts rather than commits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “idealist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.