non-realist
|non-real-ist|
🇺🇸
/nɑnˈriːəlɪst/
🇬🇧
/nɒnˈriːəlɪst/
not a realist / opposed to realism
Etymology
'non-realist' originates from the prefix 'non-' (from Latin 'non' meaning 'not') combined with 'realist', where 'realist' comes from French 'réaliste' derived from Latin 'realis' meaning 'real'.
'non-realist' developed as a negative formation in English in the 19th–20th centuries after 'realist' (from French 'réaliste') entered English; the hyphenated form 'non-realist' was used to mark the opposition to 'realist' and to name stances in art and philosophy.
Initially a literal negative meaning 'not a realist', over time 'non-realist' acquired technical senses referring specifically to movements or philosophical positions opposing realism (e.g., nonrealism in art and anti-realism in philosophy).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a person who is non-realist; someone who rejects or opposes realism (in art, philosophy, or theory).
The critic called him a non-realist because he preferred symbolic interpretation to literal depiction.
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Adjective 1
not realist; not accepting or practicing realism as an aesthetic or philosophical doctrine; relating to nonrealism in art or theory.
Her non-realist approach to painting favored abstraction over photographic detail.
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Adjective 2
in philosophy (esp. metaethics or metaphysics), denying that certain entities or facts exist independently of minds; not committed to ontological realism about X.
Non-realist theories of morality argue that moral values are not mind-independent facts.
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Last updated: 2025/11/18 15:50