realist

[ ree-uh-list ]

noun

1. a person who tends to view or represent things as they really are.
2. an artist or a writer whose work is characterized by realism.
3. Philosophy. an adherent of realism.

adjective

1. of or relating to realism or to a person who embodies its principles or practices:

   the realist approach to social ills;

   realist paintings.

ˈrealist

/ ˈrɪəlɪst /

noun

1. a person who is aware of and accepts the physical universe, events, etc, as they are; pragmatist
2. an artist or writer who seeks to represent the familiar or typical in real life rather than an idealized, formalized, or romantic interpretation
3. philosophy a person who accepts realism
4. modifier of, relating to, or characteristic of realism or realists in the arts, philosophy, etc

   a realist school

Other Words From

• anti·real·ist noun adjective
• hyper·real·ist noun
• non·real·ist noun
• pro·real·ist adjective noun
• ultra·real·ist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of realist¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; real ¹ + -ist; compare French réaliste

Example Sentences

A realist would worry about what comes next from the world’s most powerful countries.

From MIT Technology Review

I am, however, a realist and I don’t get too excited because disappointments can hurt more.

From Washington Blade

Hutchison overlaps multiple views, usually of the same person, a cubist strategy tempered by a realist style and neoclassical oil-painting technique.

From Washington Post

Whether you’re a hardcore survivalist or simply a realist, a high quality emergency radio can decrease risk in a challenging situation and provide added peace of mind in safer times.

From Popular-Science

In the show’s largest picture, he turns his attention to another test of the realist painter — draped fabric — with a window scene that emphasizes lush pink and gold curtains.

From Washington Post

And I think part of it was in response to being such an extreme realist writer.

From The Daily Beast

Burt told me that he considers Paul a traditional, Republican realist.

From The Daily Beast

He was an “idealist and a realist at the same time,” said his close friend, the British Diplomat Frank Roberts.

From The Daily Beast

This indictment of American meddling was also echoed by uber-realist Stephen Walt, a professor at Harvard.

From The Daily Beast

Jacob Heilbrunn asked in The National Interest, the premier realist journal.

From The Daily Beast

While he runs Zola close as a realist, his thoughts and language are as pure as those of Miss Yonge herself.'

From Project Gutenberg

But whereas as a national poet he was a flattering idealist, he was as a personal poet an uncompromising realist.

From Project Gutenberg

A realist through and through, he did not shrink from representing the horrible, which antique art preferred to avoid.

From Project Gutenberg

When you reach the inner circle of government you find always a very practical realism, and Brinsmade is in all things a realist.

From Project Gutenberg

Robertson approved of these innovations, but he was never more than half a realist, and this from several causes.

From Project Gutenberg