An idealistic person believes you should live by high standards and a strong idea of what is right, even when the real world will not match them. They keep a picture of how things ought to be, and they try to live toward it. You can also call a plan, a speech, or a film idealistic when it shows that same belief: peace, fairness, kindness, as if people will simply choose them. The word can be warm praise — “she is still idealistic” — or a polite let-down: “that’s a bit idealistic,” meaning kind, but it will not work. News writers use it a lot for politics and for young people. Though actually, it does not mean “about ideas” in the loose school sense, and it does not mean “perfect.” An idealistic plan can be full of holes. Realistic faces the limits; cynical expects the worst. Idealistic is the one that still reaches. It is a normal educated adjective; you will see it in essays more than in text messages.