realism
[ ree-uh-liz-uhm ]
/ ˈri əˌlɪz əm /
noun
interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc.
the tendency to view or represent things as they really are.
Fine Arts.
- treatment of forms, colors, space, etc., in such a manner as to emphasize their correspondence to actuality or to ordinary visual experience.Compare idealism (def. 4), naturalism (def. 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.
Literature.
- a manner of treating subject matter that presents a careful description of everyday life, usually of the lower and middle classes.
- 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.Compare naturalism (def. 1b).
Philosophy.
- the doctrine that universals have a real objective existence.Compare conceptualism, nominalism.
- the doctrine that objects of sense perception have an existence independent of the act of perception.Compare idealism (def. 5a).
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OTHER WORDS FROM realism
Words nearby realism
realgar, realia, realign, realignment, real income, realism, realist, realistic, reality, reality awareness, reality-based
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for realism
British Dictionary definitions for realism
realism
/ (ˈrɪəˌlɪzəm) /
noun
Collins 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 realism (1 of 2)
realism
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.
Cultural definitions for realism (2 of 2)
realism
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.
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.