idealist

American  

[ahy-dee-uh-list] / aɪˈdi ə lɪst /

noun

idealists plural

1. a person who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.

   Synonyms:

   utopianist, visionary, reformer, perfectionist, optimist

   Antonyms:

   cynic, skeptic, pragmatist

2. a visionary or impractical person.

   Synonyms:

   stargazer, dreamer, romanticist, romantic

   Antonyms:

   materialist, realist

3. a person who represents things as they might or should be rather than as they are.

   My friend is an idealist, who somehow thinks that we always agree.

4. a writer or artist who treats subjects imaginatively.

5. a person who accepts the doctrines of philosophical idealism, as by representing things in an ideal form, or as they might or should be rather than as they are.

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adjective

1. of or relating to idealism or idealists; idealistic.

Pop Culture

—Idealist.org: a job-search website that connects people who want to work or volunteer their services with not-for-profit organizations.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anti-idealist
  noun
• hyperidealist
  noun
• superidealist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• idealists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of idealist

First recorded in 1695–1705; ideal + -ist

Explanation

An idealist is someone who envisions an ideal world rather than the real one. Some people consider idealists to be naive, impractical, and out of touch with reality. Idealists think that striving for perfection makes the world a better place. The main root of idealist is "ideal," which comes from the Latin word idea. As an idealist, you think everyone should act in the best interest of the group. Ideally, everyone would agree with you, but the unfortunate reality is that lots of people act solely in their own self-interest. Words that are related to idealist include "idealize," "idealism," and "ideally."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

idealist idealists

Amodei is an idealist who represents the historically liberal wing of Silicon Valley, concerned about unleashing AI without proper guardrails.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2025

Callaghan gives off a scintilla of Matt Damon vibes, but is his own Rudy, keeping his naive idealist free from leading-man tics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025

And Chinese media describe him as a "technical idealist" - he insists on keeping DeepSeek as an open-source platform.

From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2025

I was always very much an idealist and was like, "Let's just try."

From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2024

“If he was clever enough to send us over to Mandeville like two stooges, lie’s not that psycho. Even somebody like the idealist can play a joke on you.”

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

"There are Don Quixotes and Sanchos: idealists and pragmatists. Some may find the transparency of crystals fascinating, while others are interested in their smell and whether they're edible," García-Ruiz pointed out.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

They’re ideas people, glass half full types, idealists but also stubborn visionaries.

From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2024

“Dali was like the last bastion of idealists, where I felt like I could really breathe freely.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2023

Plus, the AWU-CWA may have another appeal for Google’s idealists.

From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2023

Antislavery idealists might prefer to live in some better world, which like all such places was too good to be true.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• dreamer
• optimist
• visionary