If you refer to someone as a visionary, you mean that they have strong, original ideas about how things might be different in the future, especially about how things might be improved.
Visionaries see the world ahead in terms of what it can be.
She isn't just an entrepreneur. She is a visionary.
Synonyms: idealist, romantic, dreamer, daydreamer More Synonyms of visionary
2. adjective
You use visionary to describe the strong, original ideas of a visionary.
Many are hailing Rendell's ideas as visionary.
...the visionary architecture of Etienne Boulleé.
More Synonyms of visionary
visionary in British English
(ˈvɪʒənərɪ)
adjective
1.
marked by vision or foresight
a visionary leader
2.
incapable of being realized or effected; unrealistic
3.
(of people) characterized by idealistic or radical ideas, esp impractical ones
4.
given to having visions
5.
of, of the nature of, or seen in visions
nounWord forms: plural-aries
6.
a visionary person
Derived forms
visionariness (ˈvisionariness)
noun
visionary in American English
(ˈvɪʒənˌɛri)
adjective
1.
of, having the nature of, or seen in a vision
2.
a.
existing only in the mind; not real; imaginary
visionary achievements
b.
not capable of being put into effect; not realistic; impractical
a visionary scheme
3.
seeing or disposed to see visions
4.
characterized by impractical ideas or schemes
nounWord forms: pluralˈvisionˌaries
5.
a person who sees visions; prophet or seer
6.
a person whose ideas, plans, etc. are impractical, too idealistic, or fantastic; dreamer
7.
a person of strong and creative imaginative power and, often, the ability to inspire others
Examples of 'visionary' in a sentence
visionary
An excited little man with the staring eyes of a visionary, who harangued us for hours on end about the imminence of apocalypse.
Appiganesi, Lisa DREAMS OF INNOCENCE (2003)
Lord Carstairs, traveller, visionary, occultist, magician, speaking through a portrait painted by the man who had inherited his bloodline?
Barbara Erskine SANDS OF TIME (2003)
The big corporations - and the small - seldom shared their hot-button results, certainly not with visionary pioneers.
Greg Bear VITALS (2003)
In other languages
visionary
British English: visionary NOUN
If you refer to someone as a visionary, you mean that they have strong, original ideas about how things might be different in the future, especially about how things might be improved.
He is more than just a risk taker. He is a visionary.
American English: visionary
Brazilian Portuguese: visionário
Chinese: 有远见的人
European Spanish: visionario
French: visionnaire
German: Visionär
Italian: visionario
Japanese: 先見の明のある人
Korean: 선지자
European Portuguese: visionário
Latin American Spanish: visionario
British English: visionary ADJECTIVE
You use visionary to describe the strong, original ideas of a visionary.
Many are hailing his ideas as visionary.
American English: visionary
Brazilian Portuguese: visionário
Chinese: 有远见的
European Spanish: visionario
French: visionnaire
German: vorausblickend
Italian: visionario
Japanese: 先見の明のある
Korean: 예지력 있는
European Portuguese: visionário
Latin American Spanish: visionario
1 (adjective)
Definition
idealistic but impractical
His ideas were dismissed as mere visionary speculation.
Synonyms
idealistic
She was somewhat idealistic about the pleasures of motherhood.
romantic
He has a romantic view of rural society.
unrealistic
their unrealistic expectations of parenthood
utopian
He was pursuing a utopian dream of world prosperity.
dreaming
speculative
impractical
He's full of wacky, weird and impractical ideas.
dreamy
full of dreamy ideals
unworkable
quixotic
She had a quixotic attitude towards life.
starry-eyed
with your head in the clouds
Opposites
realistic
,
pragmatic
2 (adjective)
Definition
given to having visions
visionary experiences and contact with spirit beings
Synonyms
prophetic
This ominous warning soon proved prophetic.
mystical
divinatory
predictive
oracular
sibylline
mantic
vatic (rare)
fatidic (rare)
3 (adjective)
Definition
of or like visions
the visionary worlds created by fantasy writers
Synonyms
imaginary
Lots of children have imaginary friends.
fantastic
outlandish and fantastic images
unreal
There are few more unreal worlds than that of the celebrity.
fanciful
fanciful ideas about Martian life
ideal
Their ideal society collapsed around them in revolution.
idealized
illusory
the illusory nature of nationhood
imaginal (psychoanalysis)
chimerical
delusory
Opposites
real,
actual
,
mundane
,
unimaginary
1 (noun)
Definition
a visionary person
Visionaries see the world not as it is but as it could be.
Synonyms
idealist
He is not such an idealist that he cannot see the problems.
romantic
You're a hopeless romantic.
dreamer
I was a dreamer, a romancer.
daydreamer
utopian
Kennedy had no patience with dreamers or liberal utopians.
enthusiast (archaic)
theorist
zealot
Don Quixote
Opposites
cynic
,
realist
,
pragmatist
,
pessimist
2 (noun)
Definition
a visionary person
shamans, mystics and religious visionaries
Synonyms
prophet
Merlin, the legendary magician and prophet
diviner
I was called Merlin the diviner.
mystic
seer
the writings of the 16th century French seer, Nostradamus
soothsayer
You don't have to be a soothsayer to predict his likely tactics.
sibyl
scryer
spaewife (Scottish)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of diviner
I was called Merlin the diviner.
Synonyms
psychic,
prophet,
visionary,
oracle,
astrologer,
seer,
clairvoyant,
augur,
fortune teller,
soothsayer,
sibyl,
crystal-gazer
in the sense of dreamer
I was a dreamer, a romancer.
Synonyms
idealist,
visionary,
daydreamer,
utopian,
theorizer,
fantasizer,
romancer,
Don Quixote,
escapist,
Walter Mitty,
fantasist,
fantast
in the sense of dreamy
Definition
vague or impractical
full of dreamy ideals
Synonyms
impractical,
vague,
imaginary,
speculative,
visionary,
fanciful,
quixotic,
dreamlike,
airy-fairy
Nearby words of
visionary
viscous
visible
vision
visionary
visit
visit something on or upon someone
visitation
Synonyms of 'visionary'
visionary
Explore 'visionary' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of fanciful
Definition
guided by unrestrained imagination
fanciful ideas about Martian life
Synonyms
unreal,
wild,
ideal,
romantic,
fantastic,
curious,
fabulous,
imaginative,
imaginary,
poetic,
extravagant,
visionary,
fairy-tale,
mythical,
whimsical,
capricious,
chimerical
in the sense of fantastic
Definition
strange or exotic in appearance
outlandish and fantastic images
Synonyms
strange,
bizarre,
weird,
exotic,
peculiar,
imaginative,
queer,
grotesque,
quaint,
unreal,
fanciful,
outlandish,
whimsical,
freakish,
chimerical,
phantasmagorical
in the sense of ideal
Definition
of, involving, or existing only as an idea
Their ideal society collapsed around them in revolution.
Synonyms
imaginary,
impractical,
Utopian,
romantic,
fantastic,
fabulous,
poetic,
visionary,
fairy-tale,
mythical,
unreal,
fanciful,
unattainable,
ivory-towered,
imagal
in the sense of illusory
Definition
seeming to be true, but actually false
the illusory nature of nationhood
Synonyms
unreal,
false,
misleading,
untrue,
seeming,
mistaken,
apparent,
sham,
deceptive,
deceitful,
hallucinatory,
fallacious,
chimerical,
delusive
in the sense of impractical
He's full of wacky, weird and impractical ideas.
Synonyms
idealistic,
wild,
out there (slang),
romantic,
unrealistic,
visionary,
unbusinesslike,
starry-eyed
in the sense of quixotic
Definition
unrealistically optimistic or chivalrous
She had a quixotic attitude towards life.
Synonyms
unrealistic,
idealistic,
romantic,
absurd,
imaginary,
visionary,
fanciful,
impractical,
dreamy,
Utopian,
impulsive,
fantastical,
impracticable,
chivalrous,
unworldly,
chimerical
in the sense of romantic
Definition
idealistic but impractical
He has a romantic view of rural society.
Synonyms
idealistic,
unrealistic,
visionary,
high-flown,
impractical,
dreamy,
utopian,
whimsical,
quixotic,
starry-eyed
in the sense of romantic
Definition
a person who is idealistic or amorous
You're a hopeless romantic.
Synonyms
idealist,
romancer,
visionary,
dreamer,
utopian,
Don Quixote,
sentimentalist
in the sense of seer
Definition
a person who can supposedly see into the future
the writings of the 16th century French seer, Nostradamus
Synonyms
prophet,
augur,
predictor,
soothsayer,
sibyl
in the sense of sibyl
Definition
(in ancient Greece and Rome) a prophetess
Synonyms
prophetess,
oracle,
Cassandra,
seer,
Pythia,
pythoness
Additional synonyms
in the sense of soothsayer
Definition
a person who makes predictions about the future
You don't have to be a soothsayer to predict his likely tactics.
Synonyms
prophet,
diviner,
oracle,
fortune-teller,
forecaster,
Cassandra,
seer,
clairvoyant,
augur,
sibyl,
prognosticator,
prophesier
in the sense of unreal
Definition
existing only in the imagination or giving the impression of doing so
There are few more unreal worlds than that of the celebrity.
Synonyms
imaginary,
make-believe,
illusory,
fabulous,
visionary,
mythical,
fanciful,
fictitious,
intangible,
immaterial,
storybook,
insubstantial,
nebulous,
dreamlike,
impalpable,
chimerical,
phantasmagoric
in the sense of unrealistic
Definition
not accepting the facts of a situation and not dealing with them in a practical way
their unrealistic expectations of parenthood
Synonyms
impractical,
romantic,
improbable,
unworkable,
theoretical,
half-baked (informal),
quixotic,
impracticable,
starry-eyed
in the sense of utopian
He was pursuing a utopian dream of world prosperity.
Synonyms
perfect,
ideal,
romantic,
dream,
fantasy,
imaginary,
visionary,
airy,
idealistic,
fanciful,
impractical,
illusory,
chimerical
in the sense of utopian
Kennedy had no patience with dreamers or liberal utopians.