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visionary

 - 4 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.
Cite This Source Link To visionary
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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Word Origin & History

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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Computing Dictionary

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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