[re.al.ism] n (1817) 1: concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary
2. a: a doctrine that universals exist outside the mind; specif: the conception that an abstract term names an independent and unitary reality b: the conception that objects of sense perception or cognition exist independently of the mind--compare nominalism
3: fidelity in art and literature to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization -- re.al.ist adj or n -- re.al.is.tic adj -- re.al.is.ti.cal.ly adv