pragmatic

Meanings

Adjective

• Practical, concerned with making decisions and actions that are useful in practice, not just theory.
• Philosophical; dealing with causes, reasons, and effects, rather than with details and circumstances; said of literature.
• Interfering in the affairs of others; officious; meddlesome.

Noun

• A man of business.
• A busybody.
• A public decree.

Related

Similar words

• down-to-earth, functional, practical, utilitarian, realistic

Opposite words

• idealistic

Origin

• From Middle French pragmatique, from Late Latin pragmaticus ("relating to civil affair; in Latin, as a noun, a person versed in the law who furnished arguments and points to advocates and orators, a kind of attorney"), from Ancient Greek πραγματικός ("active, versed in affairs"), from πρᾶγμα, in plural πράγματα, from πράσσω (whence English practical).