Definition of "pragmatist"

pragmatist

noun
plural pragmatists
1. One who acts in a practical or straightforward manner; one who is pragmatic; one who values practicality or pragmatism.
2. One who acts in response to particular situations rather than upon abstract ideals; one who is willing to ignore their ideals to accomplish goals.
3. One who belongs to the philosophic school of pragmatism; one who holds that the meaning of beliefs is the actions they entail, and that the truth of those beliefs consists in the actions they entail, successfully leading a believer to their goals.
  Quotations
  [S]ome pragmatists (such as William James) took a more pantheist or pandeist approach by rejecting views of God as separate from the world.
  2007, John Lachs, Robert Talisse, American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia, page 310
4. (politics) An advocate of pragmatism.
5. (linguistics) one who studies pragmatics.
adjective
comparative more pragmatist, superlative most pragmatist
1. (politics) Advocating pragmatism.
  Quotations
  Historians also suggest that Roosevelt was a pragmatist in foreign affairs, in that his policies were determined by practical consequences rather than by any philosophy.
  2013, John Wright, Access to History for the IB Diploma: The Second World War and the Americas‎, Hodder Education