as in romantic
having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality
idealistic pacifists who thought that tyranny could be toppled by rational argument and mutual understanding
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Recent Examples of idealistic
Newer companies promising noble causes, in contrast, are not tarnished—or less tarnished, at least—which also appeals to idealistic young workers.
—
Dave Smith, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025
The kooky characters surrounding Judge Stone included the conceited prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), the imposing bailiff Bull Shannon (Richard Moll), and the idealistic public defender Christine Sullivan (Markie Post), each of whom had various quirks of their own.
—Dan Heching, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
The Plowshare Project dreamt up idealistic, peacetime applications, such as reversing the course of rivers, triggering small earthquakes to prevent large ones from forming, flooding desserts, and, above all, snaking out a Central American canal with fewer vulnerabilities.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2025
Young lawyers and career government lawyers are often idealistic, willing to sacrifice personal gain for the public good, but the prospect of working for this attorney general might seem the worst sort of dead-end job — one requiring blind obedience to unworthy goals.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealistic
Dave Smith, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025
The kooky characters surrounding Judge Stone included the conceited prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), the imposing bailiff Bull Shannon (Richard Moll), and the idealistic public defender Christine Sullivan (Markie Post), each of whom had various quirks of their own.
—Dan Heching, EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
The Plowshare Project dreamt up idealistic, peacetime applications, such as reversing the course of rivers, triggering small earthquakes to prevent large ones from forming, flooding desserts, and, above all, snaking out a Central American canal with fewer vulnerabilities.
—Shoshi Parks, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2025
Young lawyers and career government lawyers are often idealistic, willing to sacrifice personal gain for the public good, but the prospect of working for this attorney general might seem the worst sort of dead-end job — one requiring blind obedience to unworthy goals.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for idealistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealistic
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
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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Wish-casting a better result for a confrontation in a different place, Vindman suppresses how much and how often America antagonized Russia through its idealist actions, rather than realist inaction.—
Samuel Moyn,
Harpers Magazine,
16 July 2025
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This, in turn, becomes logically reliant on the idealist paradigm of Consciousness as the fundamental lowest common denominator of reality.—
Carlo Tortora Brayda,
Forbes,
6 Mar. 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 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
“Idealistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealistic. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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