a. [ L. idealis: cf. F. idéal. ] 1. Existing in idea or thought; conceptional; intellectual; mental; as, ideal knowledge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Reaching an imaginary standard of excellence; fit for a model; faultless; as, ideal beauty. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

There will always be a wide interval between practical and ideal excellence. Rambler. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Existing in fancy or imagination only; visionary; unreal. “Planning ideal common wealth.” Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Teaching the doctrine of idealism; as, the ideal theory or philosophy. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Math.) Imaginary.

Syn. -- Intellectual; mental; visionary; fanciful; imaginary; unreal; impracticable; utopian. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection; a model of excellence, beauty, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The ideal is to be attained by selecting and assembling in one whole the beauties and perfections which are usually seen in different individuals, excluding everything defective or unseemly, so as to form a type or model of the species. Thus, the Apollo Belvedere is the ideal of the beauty and proportion of the human frame. Fleming. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beau ideal. See Beau ideal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Destitute of an idea. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Same as idealization. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. 1. Same as idealize. [ Chiefly Brit. ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. idéalisme. ] 1. The quality or state of being ideal. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Conception of the ideal; imagery. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Philos.) The system or theory that denies the existence of material bodies, and teaches that we have no rational grounds to believe in the reality of anything but ideas and their relations. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The practice or habit of giving or attributing ideal form or character to things; treatment of things in art or literature according to ideal standards or patterns; -- opposed to realism. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

5. a belief in the feasibility of the implementation of ideal principles and noble goals, and the practice or habit of pursuing such goals; -- opposed to realism and cynicism. [ PJC ]

n. [ Cf. F. idéaliste. ] 1. One who idealizes; one who forms picturesque fancies; one given to romantic expectations. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who holds the doctrine of idealism, in any sense. In senses 4 and 5 of idealism, opposed to realist. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

a. Of or pertaining to idealists or their theories. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Idealities 1. The quality or state of being ideal. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The capacity to form ideals of beauty or perfection. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Phren.) The conceptive faculty. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or process of idealizing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Fine Arts) The representation of natural objects, scenes, etc., in such a way as to show their most important characteristics; the study of the ideal. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A defense mechanism that splits something one is ambivalent about into two representations -- one good and one bad. [ wns=1 ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. something that exists only as an idea. [ wns=2 ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

5. a protrayal of something as ideal. [ wns=3 ]
Syn. -- glorification. [ WordNet 1.5 ]