n.
Pronunciation: ' sim-b ə -list
Function: noun
Date: 1812
1 : one who employs symbols or symbolism
2 : one skilled in the interpretation or explication of symbols
3 often capitalized : one of a group of writers and artists in France after 1880 reacting against realism, concerning themselves with general truths instead of actualities, exalting the metaphysical and the mysterious, and aiming to unify and blend the arts and the functions of the senses
– symbolist adjective