Realist Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Synonyms realist American [ree-uh-list] / ˈri ə lɪst /

noun

1. a person who tends to view or represent things as they really are.

2. an artist or a writer whose work is characterized by realism.

3. Philosophy. an adherent of realism.

adjective

1. of or relating to realism or to a person who embodies its principles or practices.

   the realist approach to social ills;

   realist paintings.

ˈrealist British / ˈrɪəlɪst /

noun

1. a person who is aware of and accepts the physical universe, events, etc, as they are; pragmatist

2. an artist or writer who seeks to represent the familiar or typical in real life rather than an idealized, formalized, or romantic interpretation

3. philosophy a person who accepts realism

4. (modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of realism or realists in the arts, philosophy, etc

   a realist school

"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

Other Word Forms

• antirealist noun
• hyperrealist noun
• nonrealist noun
• prorealist adjective
• ultrarealist noun

Etymology

Origin of realist

First recorded in 1595–1605; real 1 + -ist; compare French réaliste

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.

Those fonder of Hawthorne the magical realist will have plenty to appreciate as well, not least of which that Donatello’s true ancestry—whether human or faun—is never definitively established.

From The Wall Street Journal

He made his home in the Scottish Borders and wrote readable, accessible novels in the realist tradition.

From BBC

He was telling me not to do something that I then went and did, which is to become a kind of quotidian, realist, boring writer.

From The Wall Street Journal

A pragmatic realist, he stopped short of calling for immediate emancipation, which he knew was unacceptable to most American voters.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s a movie for dreamers, realists and romantics alike, the kind of film that’s so fantastic and so painfully human that its brilliant existence is reason enough to believe in good things.

From Salon

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.