idealism

The definition of idealism is believing in or pursuing some perfect vision or belief.

(noun)

An example of idealism is the belief of people who think they can save the world.

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See idealism in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. behavior or thought based on a conception of things as they should be or as one would wish them to be; idealization
  2. a striving to achieve one's ideals
  3. imaginative treatment in art that seeks to show the artist's or author's conception of perfection; representation of imagined types, or ideals
  4. Philos. any of various theories which hold that:
    1. things exist only as ideas in the mind rather than as material objects independent of the mind
    2. things in the material world are actually manifestations of an independent realm of unchanging, immaterial models or forms

Origin: Fr idéalisme or Ger idealismus

See idealism in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. The act or practice of envisioning things in an ideal form.
  2. Pursuit of one's ideals.
  3. Idealized treatment of a subject in literature or art.
  4. Philosophy The theory that the object of external perception, in itself or as perceived, consists of ideas.

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