realist Hear it!

realist Definition

re·al·ist (-list)

noun

  1. a person concerned with real things and practical matters rather than those that are imaginary or visionary
  2. a believer in or advocate of realism
  3. an artist or writer whose work is characterized by realism

realist Synonyms

realist

n.

pragmatist, naturalist, scientist, rationalist, pessimist, cynic, defeatist, hardhead*.

realist Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • become: She leaves fantasy behind, and becomes a realist.
  • call: Those who think there is some actual universal existing outside the mind are called realists; those who deny extra-mental universals are called nominalists.
  • remain: Better, I would like to see a European strategy - but I remain a realist.

Adjective modifier

  • non-reductive: By contrast, the same fact appears to pose a serious challenge for the non-reductive realist.
  • reductive: In fact, it is this last sort of view that most reductive realists during the medieval period actually hold.
  • immanent: As immanent realists, both view concepts as essences that are within the concretes of the external world.
  • naive: This ' naive realist ' view places the authority of science firmly in the techniques involved in the method of inquiry itself.
  • moral: Can the moral realist explain the motivational force of our moral convictions?
  • critical: Worship is an autonomous activity for the critical realist too.

Modifies a noun

  • ontology: However, many of the advantages of triangulation can be gained even without a full commitment to a realist ontology.
  • painter: Gareth is one of the most exciting, new realist painters to emerge into the art world.
  • conception: The critical realist conception of stratification contributes to Bhaskar's argument in at least two ways.
  • notion: The stated approach of Burnett is to examine the history of drinks beyond any purely realist notions of physiological need or innate desire.
  • novel: On Radio 4, Melvyn Bragg recently discussed the Victorian realist novel.
  • fiction: It's realist fiction as far as I'm concerned.

Noun used with modifier

  • naive: Today, anybody who claims that the seen world is the real world is liable to be termed a naïve realist.
  • policy: In the process of testing his own conclusions, McNay challenges the widely accepted view that Acheson was a foreign policy realist.
  • neo: The study puts forward an alternative explanation for such sponsorship that is an alternative theory to standard realist and neo realist explanations.

Possessives

view: This ' naive realist ' view places the authority of science firmly in the techniques involved in the method of inquiry itself.

Preposition: in

sense: They are social realist in the true sense of the term.