symbolist
/'simbəlist/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- An artist or writer who uses symbols extensively in their work: A symbolist is someone who employs symbols to represent ideas, emotions, or spiritual truths, often in an indirect or suggestive manner.
- A practitioner or adherent of the Symbolist movement: A symbolist is specifically a member of a late 19th-century artistic and literary movement that rejected realism and naturalism, favoring the expression of subjective ideas and emotions through symbolic imagery.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- The poet was a leading symbolist, filling his verses with images of roses and ruins to convey a sense of fleeting beauty.
- Art historians often compare the French symbolist painters with the Romantic artists who preceded them.
Advanced Usage
- As an adjective ('symbolist'): While primarily a noun, 'symbolist' can function attributively as an adjective to describe things related to the Symbolist movement or its techniques.
- The museum is hosting an exhibition on symbolist poetry from the 1890s.
Variants and Related Words
- Symbolism (n): The use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities; also refers to the Symbolist movement itself.
- The novel's use of water as a symbol of purification is a clear example of symbolism.
- Symbolize (v): To be a symbol of; to represent something with a symbol.
- A dove often symbolizes peace.
- Symbolic (adj): Serving as a symbol; characterized by or involving the use of symbols.
- The handshake was a symbolic gesture of agreement.
Synonyms
- Allegorist: A person who uses allegory, a related technique of extended symbolism.
- Emblemist: A creator or user of emblems, which are symbolic designs.
Related Phrases and Idioms
(Note: 'Symbolist' as a specific term does not commonly form phrasal verbs or idioms. The related phrases pertain to its root word, 'symbol.') - A symbol of: Something that represents or stands for something else. - The olive branch is a universal symbol of peace.
Noun
- someone skilled in the interpretation or representation of symbols
- a member of an artistic movement that expressed ideas indirectly via symbols