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

“In Greg’s most optimistic, most idealist, most selfish version of the world, he would just write code on the most important thing,” Altman said in an interview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

“A moral man who led an immoral life, an idealist who had betrayed his ideals. No one despised Richard as much as Richard himself.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 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

Slose was a frail, youngish person, with unusually light, bright eyes and a muted, intense voice; he looked like an idealist, a dedicated soul.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Refn: We were both naive idealists and we both had an enormous amount of emotions within us that we were trying to find places to unleash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

"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

The idealists absolutely should push the realists ever further.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2025

By contrast, to idealists, such as the so-called color fictionalists, everything is unreal — including color.

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2024

And if my friends are idealists, then my realism would feel negative to them.

From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh

Related Words

• dreamer
• optimist
• visionary