[prag.ma.tism] n (ca. 1864) 1: a practical approach to problems and affairs "tried to strike a balance between principles and ~"
2: an American movement in philosophy founded by C. S. Peirce and William James and marked by the doctrines that the meaning of conceptions is to be sought in their practical bearings, that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth is preeminently to be tested by the practical consequences of belief -- prag.ma.tist adj or n -- prag.ma.tis.tic adj