visionary

[vizh-uh-ner-ee]

adjective

1. given to or characterized by fanciful, not presently workable, or unpractical ideas, views, or schemes.

   a visionary enthusiast.

   Synonyms: impracticable, impractical
   Antonyms: practical

2. given to or concerned with seeing visions.

3. belonging to or seen in a vision.

4. unreal; imaginary.

   visionary evils.

   Synonyms: chimerical, illusory, fancied

5. purely idealistic or speculative; impractical; unrealizable.

   a visionary scheme.

   Synonyms: unrealistic

6. of, relating to, or proper to a vision.

noun

plural

visionaries 

1. a person of unusually keen foresight.

2. a person who sees visions.

3. a person who is given to audacious, highly speculative, or impractical ideas or schemes; dreamer.

visionary

/ ˈvɪʒənərɪ /

adjective

1. marked by vision or foresight

   a visionary leader

2. incapable of being realized or effected; unrealistic

3. (of people) characterized by idealistic or radical ideas, esp impractical ones

4. given to having visions

5. of, of the nature of, or seen in visions

noun

1. a visionary person

Other Word Forms

• visionariness noun
• nonvisionary adjective
• unvisionary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of visionary¹

First recorded in 1640–50; vision + -ary

Example Sentences

Many restaurants claim to serve up art, but few deliver like Esmé, where collaboration with others underscores their status as true visionary thinkers.

Read more on Salon

To audience laughter, Meyers continued: "I've always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president and an even better golfer."

Read more on BBC

“I’ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president and even better golfer,” he joked.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Praising the filmmaker, DiCaprio called him "a visionary and seminal director".

Read more on BBC

She re-creates the spectacle of the 1787 convention in Philadelphia, the ceaseless harangues between North and South, bringing to life these visionaries — white, affluent men, many drama queens — as they laid out an unprecedented polity.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ambitious 
• grandiose 
• idealistic 
• introspective 
• lofty 
• noble 
• quixotic 
• radical 
• starry-eyed