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
Relevance
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of idealist
Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2024
The film’s first trailer released on Monday, featuring Adam Driver as an idealist architect up against Giancarlo Esposito as a pragmatist mayor.
—Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 May 2024
Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 13 Aug. 2025
Skye acts similarly and is an idealist, never criticizing their views.
—Lisa Stardust, People.com, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealist
Adjective
The movie stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect with the power to control time, who is determined to rebuild a city that seems like New York after an accident plunges it into ruins.
—Marco Della Cava, USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2024
The film’s first trailer released on Monday, featuring Adam Driver as an idealist architect up against Giancarlo Esposito as a pragmatist mayor.
—Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 May 2024
Noun
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
Skye acts similarly and is an idealist, never criticizing their views.
—Lisa Stardust, People.com, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealist
Adjective
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Indian actor Ahaan Panday makes his debut with the Bollywood film Saiyaara which was hailed as the unofficial third film in Mohit Suri’s hit romantic franchise Aashiqui.—
Sweta Kaushal,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Text messages to his romantic partner, a transgender male roommate, allegedly include a confession and instructions to delete their exchange.—
Amanda Castro
Hannah Parry
Joshua Rhett Miller,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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From vengeful resurrections to satanic rituals, shoplifters waging war on capitalism to secret cults, shadow selves to harrowing births, these genre-defying films crown the Dolls as auteurs, protagonists, dreamers, and disruptors.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
10 Sep. 2025
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My friend, the late Dr. Dorothy I. Height, once described me as a dreamer with a shovel in my hands.—
John Hope Bryant,
Time,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Harold remembers arriving at Shepherd as an idealistic young man, ready to shape developing minds and make grand intellectual contributions.—
Jeremy Gordon,
The Atlantic,
12 Sep. 2025
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Lellouche stars as unlikely hero Zem, a disillusioned Zone 3 cop with an idealistic militant past, who is teamed with haughty, high-flying Zone 2 officer Salia, played by Adèle Exarchopoulos, after a leading politician is assassinated in Zone 1.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Jars of thick honey can feel messy or impractical for travel.—
Footwear News,
Footwear News,
12 Sep. 2025
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As hotels compete for increasingly discerning customers, designs perceived as impractical or uncomfortable can quickly backfire in the age of viral social media.—
Soo Kim,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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What was clear is that Uniqlo conceives of itself as a distribution system for utopian values, replete with mantras and koans, as much as a clothing company.—
Lauren Collins,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
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Lee and her brother William would preach far and wide to attract people to their cause (a necessity, given the lifetime celibacy requirement) and their pursuit of a utopian society free of any and all sin.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk this week on a Utah college campus marks the latest example of violence tearing through American politics across centuries and the ideological spectrum.—
Chris Boyette,
CNN Money,
14 Sep. 2025
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If the end goal is beating the ideological adversary, then little matters beyond that.—
Kimberly Ross,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The resulting film is equal parts shaggy, quixotic road movie and Malickian spiritual ponderance, gazing at the celestial patterns above while also too drunk on them to see the shallowness of their promise.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
3 Sep. 2025
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There’s a quixotic gallantry to appealing to a saner conservative and looking ahead to a post-Trump American politics.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
14 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Idealist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealist. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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