pragmatism
noun
Simple meaning
The pursuit of practicality over aesthetic qualities.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pragmuhtihzuhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹæɡmətɪzəm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The pursuit of practicality over aesthetic qualities; a concentration on facts rather than emotions or ideals.
philosophy
The idea that beliefs are identified with the actions of a believer, and the truth of beliefs with success of those actions in securing a believer's goals; the doctrine that ideas must be looked at in terms of their practical effects and consequences.
politics
The theory that political problems should be met with practical solutions rather than ideological ones.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The pursuit of practicality over aesthetic qualities; a concentration on facts rather than emotions or ideals.
Used this way, pragmatism is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.