idealism
noun/aɪˈdiːəlɪzəm/
/aɪˈdiːəlɪzəm/
[uncountable]- the belief that a perfect life, situation, etc. can be achieved, even when this is not very likely
- He was full of youthful idealism.
- Idealism has no place in modern politics.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- (philosophy) the belief that our ideas are the only things that are real and that we can know about compare materialism, realism
Word Originlate 18th cent. (as a philosophical term): from French idéalisme or German Idealismus, from late Latin idealis, via Latin from Greek idea ‘form, pattern’, from the base of idein ‘to see’.
Check pronunciation:
idealism