idealistic

adjective

(ˌ)ī-ˌdē-(ə-)ˈli-stik How to pronounce idealistic (audio)
Definition of idealisticnext
as in romantic
having or marked by a tendency to be guided more by ideals than by reality idealistic pacifists who thought that tyranny could be toppled by rational argument and mutual understanding

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of idealistic Sly and the Family Stone’s more commercial ’60s work can be seen as far more utopian and idealistic than their darker ’70s albums. — Al Shipley, SPIN, 7 July 2026 Still, their ambitions are quite idealistic, even verging on evangelical. — Boris Kachka, The Atlantic, 3 July 2026 Chan stars as idealistic rookie officer Shih-Ting, while veteran actor Cheng portrays Hou, a pragmatic policeman approaching retirement. — Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 23 June 2026 The first stretch of the film centers on co-founder Ilya Sutskever (Yura Borisov), the idealistic scientific mind behind the company, before the boardroom power struggle takes over. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 21 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for idealistic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idealistic
  1. romantic
  2. impractical
  3. idealist
  4. utopian
Adjective
  • It Brizé’s fourth time in competition at Venice after the Fipresci Prize winning A Woman’s Life as well as Another World and romantic interlude Out of Season, starring Guillaume Canet and Rohrwacher.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Furthermore a Washington Post investigation found nearly 50 cases of officers charged with or accused of misusing the cameras, many involving tracking current or former romantic partners.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of romantic
Adjective
  • Direct transmission becomes increasingly impractical beyond that point.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 14 Aug. 2026
  • It's born from combining advances across science, engineering and computation in ways that make previously impractical technologies commercially viable.
    — Cyrus Wadia, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of impractical
Adjective
  • Sagittarius is an idealist sign that can totally relate to this tale of enduring relationships.
    — Lisa Stardust, PEOPLE, 9 Jan. 2026
  • The contact with and dependence on such support arguably also bolstered art’s worldliness and acted as an antidote to the petit bourgeois affinity for idealist mystification.
    — Diedrich Diederichsen, Artforum, 1 Dec. 2025
Definition of idealist
Adjective
  • Zuckerberg’s hope is that these developers will use that freedom to develop user-friendly apps and businesses that will eventually usher in utopian AI tech to the average person.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Incidentally, the same goes for hyperbolically utopian (exuberant prosperity for all) or dystopian (humanoid robots in charge) visions of the future, which make any form of planning pointless.
    — Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of utopian

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Cite this Entry

“Idealistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idealistic. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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