Dictionary › P › pragmatist
pragmatist
3 syllablesYour browser doesn’t have built-in voices. Try Chrome, Edge or Safari.
As a noun, pragmatist means one who acts in a practical or straightforward manner. As an adjective, it means advocating pragmatism.
Meanings of pragmatist
8 meaningsnoun
One who acts in a practical or straightforward manner; one who is pragmatic; one who values practicality or pragmatism.
“A pragmatist would never plant such a messy tree, but I like its flowers.”
One who acts in response to particular situations rather than upon abstract ideals; one who is willing to ignore their ideals to accomplish goals.
“I'm not a thief, I am a pragmatist. I need this bread to feed my family.”
“We cannot trust him not to lie for his own gain: he's an opportunist and a pragmatist.”
One who belongs to the philosophic school of pragmatism; one who holds that the meaning of beliefs are the actions they entail, and that the truth of those beliefs consist in the actions they entail successfully leading a believer to their goals.
politicsAn advocate of pragmatism.
linguisticsOne who studies pragmatics.
An adherent of philosophical pragmatismperson
A person who takes a practical approach to problems and is concerned primarily with the success or failure of their actionsperson
adjective
politicsAdvocating pragmatism.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).