idealism
[ ahy-dee-uh-liz-uhm ]
/ aɪˈdi əˌlɪz əm /
noun
the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.
the practice of idealizing.
something idealized; an ideal representation.
Fine Arts. treatment of subject matter in a work of art in which a mental conception of beauty or form is stressed, characterized usually by the selection of particular features of various models and their combination into a whole according to a standard of perfection.Compare naturalism (def. 2), realism (def. 3a).
Philosophy.
- any system or theory that maintains that the real is of the nature of thought or that the object of external perception consists of ideas.
- the tendency to represent things in an ideal form, or as they might or should be rather than as they are, with emphasis on values.
QUIZZES
BECOME A PRO CHEF WITH THIS EXQUISITE CUISINE QUIZ!
Even if you can't be a professional chef, you can at least talk like one with this vocabulary quiz.
Question 1 of 9
You may have read the word "simmer" in a recipe or two, but what does it really mean?
OTHER WORDS FROM idealism
an·ti-i·de·al·ism, nouno·ver·i·de·al·ism, nounWords nearby idealism
ideal, ideal crystal, ideal element, ideal gas, ideal gas law, idealism, idealist, idealistic, ideality, idealization, idealize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for idealism
British Dictionary definitions for idealism
idealism
/ (aɪˈdɪəˌlɪzəm) /
noun
belief in or pursuance of ideals
the tendency to represent things in their ideal forms, rather than as they are
any of a group of philosophical doctrines that share the monistic view that material objects and the external world do not exist in reality independently of the human mind but are variously creations of the mind or constructs of ideasCompare materialism (def. 2), dualism (def. 2)
Derived forms of idealism
idealist, nounidealistic, adjectiveidealistically, adverbCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for idealism
idealism
An approach to philosophy that regards mind, spirit, or ideas as the most fundamental kinds of reality, or at least as governing our experience of the ordinary objects in the world. Idealism is opposed to materialism, naturalism, and realism. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was an idealist; so was Immanuel Kant.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.