Meaning & use
visionary
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Meanings
adjectivecomparableapproving
Showing bold, imaginative ideas about what the future could be like.
Grammar: Goes before a noun or after be: a visionary leader, her thinking was visionary.
Patterns
- a visionary leader
- visionary thinking
The architect's visionary plan transformed the old harbor.
He was a visionary scientist ahead of his time.
The company's visionary approach to energy attracted investors.
nouncountableapproving
A person with strong imagination and clear ideas about how the future could be, who may act on them.
Grammar: Refers to a person: she is a visionary.
Patterns
- a visionary in something
Edison is often described as a visionary of the electric age.
The school was founded by a visionary who believed in free education.
Some called him a dreamer, but others saw a visionary.
adjectivebefore a nounliterary
Relating to seeing visions in a religious or mystical sense, or existing only in the imagination.
Grammar: Appears before a noun: visionary experiences.
Patterns
- a visionary experience
The saint described visionary encounters in her diary.
The poem builds a visionary landscape of glowing towers.
His visionary art draws on dreams and mythology.
Word forms
| plural | visionaries |
|---|
Common combinations
- visionary leader
- A visionary leader sees problems before others do.
- visionary thinker
- She is a visionary thinker in education.
- a true visionary
- Many consider him a true visionary.
- visionary idea
- The visionary idea became a reality ten years later.
- visionary designer
- The visionary designer imagined a floating city.
Synonyms and how they differ
- imaginative
- Imaginative means having many creative ideas, but visionary suggests ideas about the future that could change things.
- far-sighted
- Far-sighted stresses careful planning for the future, while visionary adds boldness and originality.
- idealistic
- Idealistic can imply ideas that are impractical, but visionary usually suggests they could work.
- pioneering
- Pioneering describes being the first to do something, but visionary describes the imagination behind it.
Opposites
Word family
- vision noun
- an idea of the future, or the ability to see
- visionaries noun
- plural of visionary
- visionless adjective
- lacking imagination or foresight
Commonly confused: visionary or visual?
visionary vs visual
Visual relates to seeing with the eyes, while visionary relates to imagining the future.
Practice
The founder was called a ___ because she predicted the move to online shopping decades before it happened.
Choose one answer.
A visionary sees future possibilities early. A skeptic doubts, a traditionalist prefers old ways, and a bystander only watches.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “visionary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.