Réaliste

Réaliste is a French adjective meaning real, actual, or practical, and is also used to describe something faithful to reality or plausible. It derives from Latin realis via Old French, with the sense of relating to reality. In philosophy and everyday speech, réaliste can describe a person who adheres to realism, or a project, depiction, or judgment that prioritizes factual accuracy over idealization. The masculine and feminine singular forms are identical: réaliste.

In arts and literature, réalisme is a major 19th-century movement that sought to represent ordinary life truthfully, without romanticism or idealization. Realist writers such as Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, and Émile Zola aimed to portray social conditions and everyday behavior with scrupulous detail, often focusing on class, money, and the constraints of individuals. The adjective réaliste is used to describe works that are depicted in a credible, unexaggerated manner.

In cinema and visual arts, réaliste describes works that emphasize ordinary settings and plausible situations. Realist films, photographs, and paintings strive for verisimilitude, sometimes adopting documentary or straightforward narrative styles. In philosophy, realism (réalisme) is a broader term denoting the view that reality exists independently of perception; a person who defends this position may be described as réaliste in discussions on epistemology or metaphysics.