Idealistic

How to spell idealistic

10 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce idealistic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does idealistic mean?

1. adjectiveGuided by high principles or a vision of how things ought to be, often more than by what is practical.

Idealistic in a sentence

• Her idealistic plan to house everyone in a year ignored the budget entirely.

• The young lawyer was too idealistic to accept that some cases simply cannot be won.

Where does idealistic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek idea, meaning 'form', 'pattern', or 'appearance', a noun derived from the verb idein, 'to see'. In the philosophy of Plato, an idea was a perfect, abstract form that ordinary things only imperfectly imitate, and from that elevated sense English built 'ideal' to mean a standard of perfection. The noun 'idealist', for someone who pursues such perfect standards rather than practical realities, appeared in the 1700s, and the adjective 'idealistic' followed soon after to describe people, plans, or attitudes shaped by lofty principles. The journey passed through Latin idea and French idéal before settling into English. A useful spelling cue is that the word is plainly built in stages, ideal then -ist then -ic, so the single 'l' and the 'ist' chunk fall into place when you hear the parts.

How the word is built

• ideal (from Greek idea: form, pattern)
• -ist (one who follows)
• -ic (adjective suffix)