realism

American  

[ree-uh-liz-uhm] / ˈri əˌlɪz əm /

noun

• realisms
  plural

1. interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc.

2. the tendency to view or represent things as they really are.

3. Fine Arts.

   1. treatment of forms, colors, space, etc., in such a manner as to emphasize their correspondence to actuality or to ordinary visual experience.

   2. (usually initial capital letter) a style of painting and sculpture developed about the mid-19th century in which figures and scenes are depicted as they are experienced or might be experienced in everyday life.

4. Literature.

   1. a manner of treating subject matter that presents a careful description of everyday life, usually of the lower and middle classes.

   2. a theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is.

5. Philosophy.

   1. the doctrine that universals have a real objective existence.

   2. the doctrine that objects of sense perception have an existence independent of the act of perception.

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realism British  

/ ˈrɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. awareness or acceptance of the physical universe, events, etc, as they are, as opposed to the abstract or ideal

2. awareness or acceptance of the facts and necessities of life; a practical rather than a moral or dogmatic view of things

3. a style of painting and sculpture that seeks to represent the familiar or typical in real life, rather than an idealized, formalized, or romantic interpretation of it

4. any similar school or style in other arts, esp literature

5. philosophy the thesis that general terms such as common nouns refer to entities that have a real existence separate from the individuals which fall under them See also universal Compare Platonism nominalism conceptualism naive realism

6. philosophy the theory that physical objects continue to exist whether they are perceived or not Compare idealism phenomenalism

7. logic philosophy the theory that the sense of a statement is given by a specification of its truth conditions, or that there is a reality independent of the speaker's conception of it that determines the truth or falsehood of every statement

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realism ¹ Cultural  

1. An approach to philosophy that regards external objects as the most fundamentally real things, with perceptions or ideas as secondary. Realism is thus opposed to idealism. Materialism and naturalism are forms of realism. The term realism is also used to describe a movement in literature that attempts to portray life as it is.

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realism ² Cultural  

1. An attempt to make art and literature resemble life. Realist painters and writers take their subjects from the world around them (instead of from idealized subjects, such as figures in mythology or folklore) and try to represent them in a lifelike manner.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antirealism
  noun
• hyperrealism
  noun
• nonrealism
  noun
• overrealism
  noun
• prorealism
  noun
• ultrarealism
  noun
• unrealism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• realisms
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of realism

First recorded in 1810–20; real ¹ + -ism; compare French réalisme

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Explanation

Realism is an approach to life that means dealing with the way things are. If you see the world through the lens of realism, you accept what's in front of you and don't pretend it's otherwise. For those who follow the doctrine of realism, it's "just the facts, ma'am." What you see is what you get; if you can't see it or touch it, it doesn't really exist. Realism is more than just a way of approaching life; it is a formal philosophy and a 19th-century art movement, where animals and people and landscapes are depicted as they appear — no purple and green faces or polka-dotted ponies, just people and trees and landscapes painted in proportions and colors that look like the real thing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

realism realisms

Time Out said Effi o Blaenau was a cross between Greek tragedy and "British social realism", calling Gwenllian "formidable", while The Guardian described the film as a "sensation".

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Rivera’s play, which won an Obie Award, caught fire in its 1993 New York premiere at the Public Theater with its theatrical street sense, savage imagery and Puerto Rican-inflected magical realism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

He continues to disappoint with “The Uprising,” a sort of grunge “Braveheart” that attempts to replace Mel Gibson’s Hollywood bravado with grit and realism but comes across as lifeless and inert.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

On a superficial level, his plays, built around the emotional lives of his characters, can come off as a throwback to traditional realism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Dressed in the right language this might have made a fantastic answer—something about the woman’s serenity standing in powerful counterpoint to the general realism of the piece.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

He’s adept at creating different realisms and textures for each story line, variations that add layers of meaning.

From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2016

Perhaps the grittiest realisms could use a little light rebranding, granted – but even when money's tight, surely there should be a place for poetry ...

From The Guardian ● May 28, 2010

Hopper's realism had nothing to do with the prevalent realisms of the 1930s and '40s in American painting.

From Time Magazine Archive

The feminine "shall I, shall I not" is woven into the fabric of a soundly constructed play, one that feels itself easily superior to the crude realisms of ordinary theatre.

From Time Magazine Archive

Let us for a while forget the tedious realisms around us, and eat of the dreamy Lotos.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 27, January, 1860 by Various

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Related Words

• reality
• truth
• verisimilitude

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