Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who adheres to or professes the philosophy of pragmatism; more loosely, an opponent of rationalism and absolutism in philosophy; a supporter of the experimental method of reasoning in philosophy; a supporter of empiricism, but, unlike other empiricists, one who judges by consequences rather than by antecedents. See pragmatism, 3.
  • noun One who is impertinently busy or meddling.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who is pragmatic.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who acts in a practical or straightforward manner; one who is pragmatic; one who values practicality or pragmatism.
  • noun One who acts in response to particular situations rather than upon abstract ideals; one who is willing to ignore their ideals to accomplish goals.
  • noun One who belongs to the philosophic school of pragmatism; one who holds that the meaning of beliefs are the actions they entail, and that the truth of those beliefs consist in the actions they entail successfully leading a believer to their goals.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a person who takes a practical approach to problems and is concerned primarily with the success or failure of her actions
  • noun an adherent of philosophical pragmatism

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek πρᾶγμα (pragma, "thing").

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