symbolist

[ sim-buh-list ]

/ ˈsɪm bə lɪst /

noun

a person who uses symbols or symbolism.

a person versed in the study or interpretation of symbols.

Literature.

a writer who seeks to express or evoke emotions, ideas, etc., by stressing the symbolic value of language, to which is ascribed a capacity for communicating otherwise inexpressible visions of reality.
(usually initial capital letter) a member of a group of chiefly French and Belgian poets of the latter part of the 19th century who sought to evoke aesthetic emotions by emphasizing the associative character of verbal, often private, images or by using synesthetic devices, as vowel sounds, presumably evocative of color.

Fine Arts.

an artist who seeks to symbolize or suggest ideas or emotions by the objects represented, the colors used, etc.
(usually initial capital letter) a member of a group of late 19th-century artists who rejected realism and sought to express subjective visions rather than objective reality through the use of evocative images.

(often initial capital letter) Ecclesiastical. a person who rejects the doctrine of transubstantiation and views the Eucharist symbolically.

a person who favors the use of symbols in religious services.

adjective

of or relating to symbolists or symbolism.

Nearby words

symbolic language, symbolic logic, symbolical books, symbolics, symbolism, symbolist, symbolist movement, symbolization, symbolize, symbology, symbrachydactyly

Origin of symbolist

First recorded in 1575–85; symbol + -ist

Related forms

sym·bol·is·tic, adjectivesym·bol·is·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for symbolist

Almqvist was a realist and symbolist who loved to throw out paradoxical bons-mots on current morals with a generous hand.
August Strindberg, the Spirit of Revolt|L. (Lizzy) Lind-af-Hageby
It was dear to the Realist, and it is dear to the Symbolist.
The Children|Alice Meynell
In the matter of conception and interpretation Mr. Carman is a symbolist.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. VIII|Various
Then comes the Symbolist, and says that to his soul, which alone is certain, man is a creature with green hair and a blue face.
Twelve Types|G.K. Chesterton

Chesterton is convinced that Browning was a literary artist—that is to say, he was a symbolist.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton|Patrick Braybrooke

British Dictionary definitions for symbolist

symbolist

/ (ˈsɪmbəlɪst) /

noun

a person who uses or can interpret symbols, esp as a means to revealing aspects of truth and reality

an artist or writer who practises symbolism in his work

(usually capital) a writer associated with the symbolist movement

(often capital) an artist associated with the movement of symbolism

Christian theol a person who rejects any interpretation of the Eucharist that suggests that Christ is really present in it, and who maintains that the bread and wine are only symbols of his body and blood

adjective

of, relating to, or characterizing symbolism or symbolists

Derived Forms

symbolistic, adjectivesymbolistically, adverb

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