SYMBOLIST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does symbolist mean? 

• SYMBOLIST (noun)
  The noun SYMBOLIST has 2 senses:

1. a member of an artistic movement that expressed ideas indirectly via symbols

2. someone skilled in the interpretation or representation of symbols

  Familiarity information: SYMBOLIST used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYMBOLIST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A member of an artistic movement that expressed ideas indirectly via symbols

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("symbolist" is a kind of...):

artist; creative person (a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination)

Derivation:

symbolism (the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning)

symbolism (an artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone skilled in the interpretation or representation of symbols

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

symboliser; symbolist; symbolizer

Hypernyms ("symbolist" is a kind of...):

interpreter; translator (someone who mediates between speakers of different languages)

Derivation:

symbolism (the practice of investing things with symbolic meaning)

symbolism (a system of symbols and symbolic representations)