pragmatic
adjective
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The word pragmatic has been busy over its more than four centuries of use. Its earliest meanings were "busy," "meddlesome," and "opinionated," but those are now considered archaic uses. The word continues, as it has since the late 19th century, to be used in reference to the philosophical movement of pragmatism (see sense 2). And, as Merriam-Webster Unabridged reports, it also continues to be used in the field of history to describe that which deals with historical events in a way that shows their interconnection. Most often, however, we encounter pragmatic when it is being used to describe people—sometimes ourselves.
So what does it mean for a person to be pragmatic? A person who is pragmatic is concerned more with matters of fact than with what could or should be. A pragmatic person's realm is results and consequences. If that's where your focus is, you may want to apply the word to yourself.
Synonyms
Examples of pragmatic in a Sentence
Lev Grossman, Time, 24 Jan. 2005
… their pragmatic successors like Benjamin Franklin were concerned with lightning's … power but not its thrilling scenic value.
—John Updike, New York Review of Books, 15 Aug. 2002
… pragmatic enough to have held on to their day jobs for years after they were putting out records.
—Chris Mundy, Rolling Stone, 16 Sept. 1993
… and her mysticism never failed to exasperate her pragmatic, mountain-climbing daughter.
—Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses, 1989
His pragmatic view of public education comes from years of working in city schools.
a pragmatic man, not given to grand, visionary schemes
Phil Wahba, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2024
The Pennsylvania governor has a track record of pragmatic policymaking that has drawn favorability among groups that many thought impossible in today’s partisan environment, including Democrats and Republicans, business and labor unions, and Muslims and Jews.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Stephen Henriques, TIME, 3 Aug. 2024
For the past several years, the Seminole County School Board has been a great reflection of the county’s voters: Conservative, but pragmatic enough to put student welfare and achievement over ideology.
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, Orlando Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2024
And that happened in a very pragmatic way because of the pandemic and being on screens all day.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 8 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pragmatic 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pragmatic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pragmatic
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“Pragmatic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pragmatic. Accessed 9 Sep. 2024.
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pragmatic
adjective
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