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Visionary - 7 dictionary results

vi⋅sion⋅ar⋅y

  [vizh-uh-ner-ee] adjective, noun, plural -ar⋅ies.
Use Visionary in a Sentence
–adjective
1. given to or characterized by fanciful, not presently workable, or unpractical ideas, views, or schemes: a visionary enthusiast.
2. given to or concerned with seeing visions.
3. belonging to or seen in a vision.
4. unreal; imaginary: visionary evils.
5. purely idealistic or speculative; impractical; unrealizable: a visionary scheme.
6. of, pertaining to, or proper to a vision.
–noun
7. a person of unusually keen foresight.
8. a person who sees visions.
9. a person who is given to audacious, highly speculative, or impractical ideas or schemes; dreamer.
Origin:
1640–50; vision + -ary

Related forms:
vi⋅sion⋅ar⋅i⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. impractical, impracticable. 4. fancied, illusory, chimerical. 5. unrealistic.

Antonyms:
1. practical.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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vi·sion·ar·y   (vĭzh'ə-něr'ē)   
adj.  
  1. Characterized by vision or foresight.
    1. Having the nature of fantasies or dreams; illusory.
    2. Existing in imagination only; imaginary.
    3. Characterized by or given to apparitions, prophecies, or revelations.
    4. Given to daydreams or reverie; dreamy.
    5. Not practicable or realizable; utopian: visionary schemes for getting rich.
    6. Tending to envision things in perfect but unrealistic form; idealistic.
    1. Characterized by or given to apparitions, prophecies, or revelations.
    2. Given to daydreams or reverie; dreamy.
    3. Not practicable or realizable; utopian: visionary schemes for getting rich.
    4. Tending to envision things in perfect but unrealistic form; idealistic.
    1. Not practicable or realizable; utopian: visionary schemes for getting rich.
    2. Tending to envision things in perfect but unrealistic form; idealistic.
n.   pl. vi·sion·ar·ies
  1. One who is given to impractical or speculative ideas; a dreamer.
  2. One who has visions; a seer.
vi'sion·ar'i·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Visionary

Vi"sion*a*ry\, a. [Cf. F. visionnaire.]

1. Of or pertaining to a visions or visions; characterized by, appropriate to, or favorable for, visions.

The visionary hour When musing midnight reigns. --Thomson.

2. Affected by phantoms; disposed to receive impressions on the imagination; given to reverie; apt to receive, and act upon, fancies as if they were realities.

Or lull to rest the visionary maid. --Pope.

3. Existing in imagination only; not real; fanciful; imaginary; having no solid foundation; as, visionary prospect; a visionary scheme or project. --Swift.

Syn: Fanciful; fantastic; unreal. See Fanciful.

Visionary

Vi"sion*a*ry\, n.; pl. Visionaries. 1. One whose imagination is disturbed; one who sees visions or phantoms.

2. One whose imagination overpowers his reason and controls his judgment; an unpractical schemer; one who builds castles in the air; a daydreamer.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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visionary

n.
1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an Artificial Intelligence researcher working on the problem of getting computers to `see' things using TV cameras. (There isn't any problem in sending information from a TV camera to a computer. The problem is, how can the computer be programmed to make use of the camera information? See SMOP, AI-complete.)
2. [IBM] One who reads the outside literature. At IBM, apparently, such a penchant is viewed with awe and wonder.
Jargon File 4.2.0
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visionary  (adj.)
"able to see visions," 1651, from vision (q.v.). Meaning "impractical" is attested from 1727. The noun is attested from 1702, from the adj., originally "one who indulges in impractical fantasies."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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visionary
1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an Artificial Intelligence researcher working on the problem of getting computers to "see" things using TV cameras. (There isn't any problem in sending information from a TV camera to a computer. The problem is, how can the computer be programmed to make use of the camera information? See SMOP, AI-complete.)
2. [IBM] One who reads the outside literature. At IBM, apparently, such a penchant is viewed with awe and wonder.
[The Jargon File]

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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