Definition

1. 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

1. someone skilled in the interpretation or representation of symbols
2. a member of an artistic movement that expressed ideas indirectly via symbols