visionary
Americanadjective
-
given to or characterized by fanciful, not presently workable, or unpractical ideas, views, or schemes.
a visionary enthusiast.
- Synonyms:
- impracticable, impractical
- Antonyms:
- practical
-
given to or concerned with seeing visions.
-
belonging to or seen in a vision.
-
unreal; imaginary.
visionary evils.
- Synonyms:
- chimerical, illusory, fancied
-
purely idealistic or speculative; impractical; unrealizable.
a visionary scheme.
- Synonyms:
- unrealistic
-
of, relating to, or proper to a vision.
noun
-
visionaries
plural
-
a person of unusually keen foresight.
-
a person who sees visions.
-
a person who is given to audacious, highly speculative, or impractical ideas or schemes; dreamer.
adjective
-
marked by vision or foresight
a visionary leader
-
incapable of being realized or effected; unrealistic
-
(of people) characterized by idealistic or radical ideas, esp impractical ones
-
given to having visions
-
of, of the nature of, or seen in visions
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of visionary
Explanation
You've got big ideas. Crazy ideas. But forward-thinking ideas — ideas that just might change the way the world works. You're considered a visionary. Visionaries are ahead of their time, always thinking creatively. You could say that a visionary can envision what the future holds and come up with solutions that fit that picture. Those wild ideas aren't always met with appreciation though. Skeptics think that visionaries aren't grounded in reality. And usually the visionaries tell them to stop being so shortsighted!
Vocabulary lists containing visionary
Common Senses: Vid, Vis ("See")
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"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "T" "U" "V" and "W"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To the world, Hussle was known as a Grammy-nominated artist, visionary entrepreneur, and South L.A. community leader.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The record-setting equity award was “designed to align extraordinary long-term shareholder value with incentives that will drive peak performance from our visionary leader,” Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm told shareholders at the time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
“This visionary project reflects Tyson’s commitment to providing quality education and opportunities,” a 2024 news release for the school stated.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026
She said the school would now look for "visionary individuals" who could bring "serious investment" to the project, as well as governments and local authorities.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Though the change was long awaited, the advent of bureaucratic administration seemed to guarantee that the visionary tendency of an Osborne and the humane one of a Lawes were things of the past.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
For decades, gaming subsidized artificial intelligence, forging the careers of today’s AI visionaries and providing the scaffolding for major AI breakthroughs.
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
What creative visionaries achieve with Legos is very different from Explosive Media’s slopaganda cartoons, to be clear.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
Poets may not strike our Operation Epic Fury Navy pilots as aviation visionaries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
One of the many things I admire about “Sinners” is its acknowledgment that artists, dreamers and visionaries like Coogler still have to exist within a system they might disagree with, possibly even hate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
The first scythes were true visionaries and saw the wisdom of continuing to cultivate wisdom.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
