Synonyms

idealistic

American

[ahy-dee-uh-lis-tik, ahy-dee-uh-] / aɪˌdi əˈlɪs tɪk, ˌaɪ di ə- /

Also idealistical

adjective

of or relating to idealism or idealists.

Other Word Forms

anti-idealistic adjective
anti-idealistically adverb
hyperidealistic adjective
hyperidealistically adverb
idealistically adverb
nonidealistic adjective
nonidealistically adverb
overidealistic adjective
quasi-idealistic adjective
quasi-idealistically adverb
unidealistic adjective
unidealistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of idealistic

First recorded in 1820–30; idealist + -ic

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.

It would have been a lot to ask that Simkhovitch, idealistic and self-sacrificing, predict that immigrant poverty and its housing conditions would be ameliorated with time.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

They are idealistic and impatient, fluent in slogans and sarcasm, and astutely aware that the system they are training to enter may have no particular use for them.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026

Forty years ago, Grisham was a lawyer and state legislator in Mississippi with an idea for a story about a racially charged murder trial, seen through the eyes of a young, idealistic attorney like himself.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

A sweet, idealistic grade-school teacher, Salim doesn’t share his aging dad’s fiery rhetoric regarding Israel.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2026

There had been a time, when Tyler was a boy, when Mother had been idealistic about education.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023