# realism

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɹi.əlɪzəm/ · frequency rank #11,449

## Definitions
1. A concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary.
2. An artistic representation of reality as it is.
3. The viewpoint that an external reality exists independent of observation.
4. A doctrine that universals are real: they exist and are distinct from the particulars that instantiate them.

## Etymology
From real + -ism.

## Easily confused with
- **realm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/realism-vs-realm)
- **relish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/realism-vs-relish)
- **reality** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/realism-vs-reality)
- **realize** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/realism-vs-realize)
- **realist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/realism-vs-realist)
- **racism** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/racism-vs-realism)
- **realise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/realise-vs-realism)
- **realised** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/realised-vs-realism)

## Common misspellings (10)
`eralism`, `raelism`, `reailsm`, `realims`, `realismm`, `realissm`, `reallism`, `realsim`, `relaism`, `rrealism`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/realism