symbolist Hear it!

symbolist Definition

sym·bol·ist (-list)

noun

  1. a person who uses symbols
  2. a person who practices symbolism in representing ideas, etc., esp. in art or literature; specif., any of a group of French and Belgian writers and artists of the late 19th cent. who rejected realism and tried to express ideas, emotions, and attitudes by the use of symbolic words, figures, objects, etc.
  3. a person who studies or is expert in interpreting symbols or symbolism

symbolist Related Forms

sym′·bol·is′·tic adjective sym′·bol·is′·ti·cally adverb

symbolist Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

French: In 1890 Yeats and two others formed the Rhymers Club as a sort of literary wing, drawing inspiration from the French Symbolists.

Modifies a noun

  • poet: Poe's poetry was a major influence on the French symbolist poets.
  • painting: The second island is that of the Temptress - inspired to a degree by the symbolist paintings of the late nineteenth century.
  • movement: The symbolist movement was largely underpinned by occult philosophy.
  • painter: Burne-Jones was also highly influential among French symbolist painters, from 1889.
  • work: Color became an expression of feeling rather than correlative for feeling as in the symbolist work.
  • writer: Like contemporary symbolist writers, he sought to express interior states rather than surface appearances.. .