Pragmatic

How to spell pragmatic

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce pragmatic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pragmatic mean?

1. adjectiveDealing with problems in a sensible, realistic way based on practical results rather than theory or ideals.

Pragmatic in a sentence

• Her pragmatic approach to the budget cut costs without harming staff morale.

• A pragmatic manager focuses on what actually works rather than on grand plans.

Where does pragmatic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek pragmatikos, meaning 'skilled in business or affairs', which grew from pragma, literally 'a thing done' or 'a deed'. That noun in turn came from the verb prassein, meaning 'to do' or 'to act', so the word's deepest sense is rooted in action and practical doing rather than theory. The Greek form passed into Latin as pragmaticus, where it described someone versed in law and practical matters, and English picked it up in the 1500s, at first carrying overtones of being meddlesome or officious. Over time the meaning settled into the modern, more flattering sense of dealing sensibly with things as they actually are. The same pragma root sits inside 'pragmatism' and the medical-sounding 'practice', and remembering the buried Greek 'doing' helps explain the unstressed 'a' in the middle that writers sometimes mishandle.

How the word is built

• pragmat- (from Greek pragma: a deed or thing done)
• -ic (adjective-forming suffix)