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IDEALISM
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Elevated ideals or conduct; the quality of believing that ideals should be pursued
Synonyms:
high-mindedness; idealism; noble-mindedness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("idealism" is a kind of...):
grandeur; magnanimousness; nobility; nobleness (the quality of elevation of mind and exaltation of character or ideals or conduct)
Derivation:
idealist (someone guided more by ideals than by practical considerations)
idealistic (of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Impracticality by virtue of thinking of things in their ideal form rather than as they really are
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("idealism" is a kind of...):
impracticality (concerned with theoretical possibilities rather than actual use)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "idealism"):
romanticism (impractical romantic ideals and attitudes)
knight errantry; quixotism (quixotic (romantic and impractical) behavior)
Derivation:
idealist (someone guided more by ideals than by practical considerations)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(philosophy) the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("idealism" is a kind of...):
philosophical doctrine; philosophical theory (a doctrine accepted by adherents to a philosophy)
Domain category:
philosophy (the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics)
Derivation:
idealistic (of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of the reality of ideas)
