realism

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: re=al=ism

CIDE DICTIONARY

realism, n. [Cf. F. réalisme.].

•  As opposed to nominalism, the doctrine that genera and species are real things or entities, existing independently of our conceptions. According to realism the Universal exists ante rem (Plato), or in re (Aristotle).  [1913 Webster]
•  Fidelity to nature or to real life; representation without idealization, and making no appeal to the imagination; adherence to the actual fact.  [1913 Webster]
•  the practise of assessing facts and the probabilities of the consequences of actions in an objective manner; avoidance of unrealistic or impractical beliefs or efforts. Contrasted to idealism, self-deception, overoptimism, overimaginativeness, or visionariness.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

realism, n.
1 the practice of regarding things in their true nature and dealing with them as they are.
2 fidelity to nature in representation; the showing of life etc. as it is in fact.
3 Philos. a the doctrine that universals or abstract concepts have an objective existence (opp. NOMINALISM). b the belief that matter as an object of perception has real existence.

Derivative

realist n.

DEVIL DICTIONARY

realism

n. The art of depicting nature as it is seem by toads. The charm suffusing a landscape painted by a mole, or a story written by a measuring-worm.

THESAURUS

realism

Marxism, absolute realism, animalism, artlessness, atomism, authenticity, behaviorism, bona fideness, commonsense realism, dialectical materialism, down-to-earthness, earthiness, earthliness, empiricism, epiphenomenalism, freedom from illusion, genuineness, hardheadedness, health, historical materialism, honesty, hylomorphism, hylotheism, hylozoism, inartificiality, lack of feelings, legitimacy, lifelikeness, literalism, literality, literalness, materialism, matter-of-factness, mechanism, natural realism, naturalism, naturalness, naturism, new realism, normalcy, normality, normalness, order, photographic realism, physicalism, physicism, positive philosophy, positivism, practical-mindedness, practicality, practicalness, pragmaticism, pragmatism, propriety, rationality, realness, reasonableness, regularity, representative realism, saneness, scientism, secularism, sensibleness, sincerity, sober-mindedness, substantialism, temporality, true-to-lifeness, truth to nature, unadulteration, unaffectedness, unfictitiousness, unidealism, unromanticalness, unsentimentality, unspeciousness, unspuriousness, unsyntheticness, verisimilitude, wholesomeness, worldliness

ROGET THESAURUS

realism

Truth

N truth, fact, reality, plain fact, plain matter of fact, nature, truth, verity, gospel, gospel truth, God's honest truth, orthodoxy, authenticity, veracity, correctness, correctitude, accuracy, exactitude, exactness, preciseness, precision, delicacy, rigor, mathematical precision, punctuality, clockwork precision, conformity to rule, nicety, orthology, ipsissima verba, realism, plain truth, honest truth, sober truth, naked truth, unalloyed truth, unqualified truth, stern truth, exact truth, intrinsic truth, nuda veritas, the very thing, not an illusion, real Simon Pure, unvarnished tale, unvarnished truth, the truth the whole truth and nothing but the trut, just the thing, real, actual, veritable, true, right, correct, certain, substantially true, categorically true, definitively true, true to the letter, true as gospel, unimpeachable, veracious, unreconfuted, unconfuted, unideal, unimagined, realistic, exact, accurate, definite, precise, well-defined, just, just so, so, strict, severe, close, literal, rigid, rigorous, scrupulous, religiously exact, punctual, mathematical, scientific, faithful, constant, unerring, curious, particular, nice, delicate, fine, clean-cut, clear-cut, verified, empirically true, experimentally verified, substantiated, proven (demonstrated), rigorously true, unquestionably true, true by definition, genuine, authentic, legitimate, orthodox, official, ex officio, pure, natural, sound, sterling, unsophisticated, unadulterated, unvarnished, unalloyed, uncolored, in its true colors, pukka, well-grounded, well founded, solid, substantial, tangible, valid, undistorted, undisguised, unaffected, unexaggerated, unromantic, unflattering, truly, verily, indeed, really, in reality, with truth, certainly, actually, in effect, exactly, ad amussim, verbatim, verbatim et literatim, word for word, literally, literatim, totidem vervis, sic, to the letter, chapter and verse, ipsissimis verbis, ad unguem, to an inch, to a nicety, to a hair, to a tittle, to a turn, to a T, au pied de la lettre, neither more nor less, in every respect, in all respects, sous tous les rapports, at any rate, at all events, strictly speaking, the truth is, the fact is, rem acu tetigisti, en suivant la verite, ex facto jus oritur, la verita e figlia del empo, locos y ninos dicen la verdad, crazy people and children tell the truth, nihil est veritatis luce dulcius, veritas nunquam perit, veritatem dies aperit, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, just the facts, ma'am, just the facts.