as in romantic
having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality
an idealist attempt to make a go of a mom-and-pop hardware store on Main Street
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in dreamer
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of idealist
Bryce Jones, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Oct. 2023
Although Oppenheimer represented the idealist wing, who thought development of the bomb might lead to some good end, many of the physicists justified their work on purely empirical grounds.
—Longreads, 20 July 2023
Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2025
But the French upper class, either idealists or simply oblivious, believed their beautiful capital would remain unsullied.
—Ruth Peltason, airmail.news, 24 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for idealist 
Adjective
Sweet floral scents have the same energy as their positive, idealist outlook on life.
—Bryce Jones, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Oct. 2023
Although Oppenheimer represented the idealist wing, who thought development of the bomb might lead to some good end, many of the physicists justified their work on purely empirical grounds.
—Longreads, 20 July 2023
Noun
Hu was an idealist, an honest, sincere, and candid man, as described by many who knew him and worked with him.
—Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2025
But the French upper class, either idealists or simply oblivious, believed their beautiful capital would remain unsullied.
—Ruth Peltason, airmail.news, 24 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for idealist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealist
Adjective
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But anybody who's ever been in a relationship or been torn between potential significant others can relate to the romantic travails of British singleton Bridget Jones.—
Brian Truitt,
USA TODAY,
15 Feb. 2025
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Less than two years after making Memory, in which Jessica Chastain falls for a man with galloping dementia, Mexican director Michel Franco has once again set her on a romantic obstacle course in which nothing, including her own moral compass, runs smoothly.—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
15 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The film’s ghostly images are at once flattened and alive, hovering in visual purgatory as scenes begin to feel not only like fever dreams, but out-of-body observations of the dreamers themselves.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
14 Feb. 2025
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Soon the dreamers’ voices, their heady dreamscapes and potent emotions, were accompanying my days.—
Mireille Juchau,
The Dial,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Finn’s friends refuse to take him seriously, but Annie is more idealistic, responding to something in the man’s personality.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
5 Feb. 2025
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Located just 15 minutes from Portland, the pet-friendly resort offers vacationers an idealistic Maine escape with the convenience of exploring both the city and coast.—
Eliseé Browchuk,
Vogue,
3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Yet these technologies mostly proved impractical for broader application.—
Raphael S. Cohen,
Foreign Affairs,
18 Feb. 2025
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Many Spanish businesses anticipate a slowdown in August and plan accordingly, whereas in the U.S., businesses remain open year-round, making extended closures impractical.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
13 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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That’s a socialist utopian fantasy as shown by Canada, where wait times to get procedures averaged 30 weeks in 2024.—
John Seiler,
Orange County Register,
7 Feb. 2025
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Normally, Davos is a hotbed of planners and self-congratulatory humanitarians who dream up utopian schemes that then can be imposed from the top down by governments.—
John Fund,
National Review,
4 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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In a filing to the FCC, Paramount and Skydance defended the merger while denying allegations of ideological bias.—
Winston Cho,
The Hollywood Reporter,
7 Feb. 2025
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It was driven by stark ideological differences between Republicans and Democrats and fueled by bitter debate.—
Lee Hamilton,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Tarantino has a quixotic belief about what film can accomplish.—
Paul Fitzgerald,
Rolling Stone,
7 Feb. 2025
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On the Github page for the quixotic project, coder ading2210 discusses how Adobe Acrobat included some robust support for JavaScript in the PDF file format.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
15 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near idealist
Cite this Entry
“Idealist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealist. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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