noun

• 1A pragmatic attitude or policy.

  ‘ideology had been tempered with pragmatism’

  More example sentences

  • ‘This is indicative of the sentiment-eschewing pragmatism that has been characteristic of a driven performer.’
  • ‘Fortunately, democratic politics normally are characterized by pragmatism and compromise, not ideology.’
  • ‘For a government that prides itself on pragmatism and prudence, this is a policy that astonishes in its fecklessness and recklessness.’
  • ‘In foreign policy, he combined a high degree of pragmatism with nationalism.’
  • ‘But the party realises that pragmatism rather than dogmatism is required if it is to make headway in a deeply divided polity.’
  • ‘Since you temper your gut instincts with pragmatism and cool thought, trusting them is usually a safe bet.’
  • ‘I admire their idealism, but wish it could be tempered with a little pragmatism, and also that their science was more sound.’
  • ‘Is it the pursuit of perfection, a realisation of pragmatism, the search for the divine or perhaps baser instincts which drive us into wanting someone?’
  • ‘Having developed the capacity to play some breathtaking rugby, we have sometimes failed to serve this captivating dish with a side order of pragmatism.’
  • ‘Well, commerce has inspired a degree of pragmatism.’
  • ‘This was not Utopia; it was merely hard-headed pragmatism shorn of illusion.’
  • ‘At the same time, however, he has shown himself capable of pragmatism.’
  • ‘But by Thursday morning a note of pragmatism had crept in.’
  • ‘The peculiar ethic which they have evolved for themselves embraces a perfectly elastic system with lots of emphasis on pragmatism.’
  • ‘His presumed pragmatism upholds the status quo by ridiculing the relative few who dare to challenge it.’
  • ‘In football, pragmatism usually triumphs over romance.’
  • ‘Underpinning his work is a ruthless pragmatism that many a maestro could learn from.’
  • ‘Such apparent political pragmatism worries many, because of the dangerous precedent it sets.’
  • ‘He has handled the situation practically and with pragmatism and common sense.’
  • ‘In doing so he echoes the humanist pragmatism of Florentine practical mathematics a century before.’

  Synonyms

  expediency, exploitation, taking advantage, Machiavellianism, manoeuvring, pragmatism, realism, unscrupulousness

• 2Philosophy
  An approach that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application.

  ‘The alternative to pragmatism is epistemological realism.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘In such formulations, there are striking similarities between Critical Theory and American pragmatism.’
  • ‘The primacy of the practical is what links American pragmatism and Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology.’
  • ‘Nor does he think that philosophical pragmatism has much to contribute to legal thought.’
  • ‘She does not often provide explicit details about how such a " philosophical pragmatism " might benefit feminism.’

  Synonyms

  common sense, sense, realism, pragmatism, matter-of-factness