idealism

1. 1.

   (philosophy) the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality

   Broaderphilosophical doctrine

   philosophy

2. 2.

   impracticality by virtue of thinking of things in their ideal form rather than as they really are

   Broaderimpracticality

   Narrowerromanticismknight errantry
3. 3.

   elevated ideals or conduct; the quality of believing that ideals should be pursued

   Synonymshigh-mindednessnoble-mindedness

   Broadernobility

Other forms of idealism

plural

idealisms·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about idealism

What does idealism mean?

idealism means "(philosophy) the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in idealism?

idealism has 4 syllables: i-de-a-lism. The stress falls on "de". In IPA it is /aɪˈdilɪzəm/.

What is another word for idealism?

Close synonyms include high-mindedness, noble-mindedness. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is idealism a common word?

idealism is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.