| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
realism (ˈrɪəˌlɪzəm) ![]() | |
| —n | |
| 1. | awareness or acceptance of the physical universe, events, etc, as they are, as opposed to the abstract or ideal |
| 2. | awareness or acceptance of the facts and necessities of life; a practical rather than a moral or dogmatic view of things |
| 3. | a style of painting and sculpture that seeks to represent the familiar or typical in real life, rather than an idealized, formalized, or romantic interpretation of it |
| 4. | any similar school or style in other arts, esp literature |
| 5. | philosophy See also universal Platonism nominalism conceptualism Compare naive realism the thesis that general terms such as common nouns refer to entities that have a real existence separate from the individuals which fall under them |
| 6. | philosophy idealism Compare phenomenalism the theory that physical objects continue to exist whether they are perceived or not |
| 7. | logic, philosophy the theory that the sense of a statement is given by a specification of its truth conditions, or that there is a reality independent of the speaker's conception of it that determines the truth or falsehood of every statement |
An approach to philosophy that regards external objects as the most fundamentally real things, with perceptions or ideas as secondary. Realism is thus opposed to idealism. Materialism and naturalism are forms of realism. The term realism is also used to describe a movement in literature that attempts to portray life as it is.