naturalistic

adjective

nat·​u·​ral·​is·​tic ˌna-ch(ə-)rə-ˈli-stik 

variants or less commonly naturalist

ˈna-ch(ə-)rə-list 

: of, characterized by, or according with naturalism

naturalistically

ˌna-ch(ə-)rə-ˈli-sti-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms of naturalistic

• realistic
• living
• natural
• lifelike
• three-dimensional

Examples of naturalistic in a Sentence

The zoo strives to create naturalistic settings for the animals.

the movie's volcanic eruption is so naturalistic that it's easy to forget that it all came out of a computer

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s how close this is to the 19th century, this old, more naturalistic tradition. —Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 1 May 2026

Stylistically, the naturalistic sculpture hails from the reign of Augustus, dating between 27 BCE and 14 CE. —Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 26 Apr. 2026

Heidi Harris’ creative, naturalistic photos have graced the websites and social media pages of Atlanta restaurants for the better part of two decades. —Henri Hollis, AJC.com, 15 Apr. 2026

Campbell’s script has both stylized and naturalistic dialogue, giving us a group of teens who feel painfully real in their inconsistency. —Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 20 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for naturalistic

• anachronistic
• animalistic
• antagonistic
• antiphlogistic
• behavioristic
• cannibalistic
• capitalistic
• characteristic
• collectivistic
• deterministic
• ethnolinguistic
• expressionistic