idealism

[ahy-dee-uh-liz-uhm]

noun

1. the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes, goals, etc.

2. the practice of idealizing.

3. something idealized; an ideal representation.

4. Fine Arts.,  treatment of subject matter in a work of art in which a mental conception of beauty or form is stressed, characterized usually by the selection of particular features of various models and their combination into a whole according to a standard of perfection.

5. Philosophy.

   1. any system or theory that maintains that the real is of the nature of thought or that the object of external perception consists of ideas.

   2. the tendency to represent things in an ideal form, or as they might or should be rather than as they are, with emphasis on values.

idealism

/ aɪˈdɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. belief in or pursuance of ideals

2. the tendency to represent things in their ideal forms, rather than as they are

3. any of a group of philosophical doctrines that share the monistic view that material objects and the external world do not exist in reality independently of the human mind but are variously creations of the mind or constructs of ideas Compare materialism dualism

idealism

1. An approach to philosophy that regards mind, spirit, or ideas as the most fundamental kinds of reality, or at least as governing our experience of the ordinary objects in the world. Idealism is opposed to materialism, naturalism, and realism. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was an idealist; so was Immanuel Kant.

Other Word Forms

• anti-idealism noun
• overidealism noun
• idealistically adverb
• idealist noun
• idealistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of idealism¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; ideal + -ism, probably modeled on German Idealismus

Example Sentences

“They show both sides of it — the idealism and the difficulty to live up to those ideals,” Gleeson says.

From Los Angeles Times

Twenty years have passed since I served alongside those young troops, glowing with pride and purpose in their dedication, their idealism, their commitment to their oath of service.

From Salon

In an article for Smithsonian magazine, historian Stephen E. Ambrose notes that amid all the contradictions of his personal life, Jefferson never relinquished his idealism about all men being created equal:

From Salon

“The idealism of the 1960s was yielding to the materialism of the 1980s, a new preoccupation with the navel-gazing, ego-stroking life,” Grynbaum writes.

From Los Angeles Times

She sees his alcoholism as the byproduct of an idealism that got crushed.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accomplishment 
• evolution 
• excellence 
• fulfillment 
• ideal 
• integrity 
• precision 
• purity 
• quality 
• superiority 
• supremacy 
• transcendence 
• virtue