fixed idea

See synonyms for fixed idea on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a persistent or obsessing idea, often delusional, that can, in extreme form, be a symptom of psychosis.

Origin of fixed idea

1
First recorded in 1820–30

Words Nearby fixed idea

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fixed idea in a sentence

  • In the meantime, every pre-fixed idea on left and right is laid waste here.

    A Reality Too Complex | Michael Tomasky | April 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • I hate to burst your fixed idea that Tomasky surely comes from a long line of elitists.

    A Note to Conservative Readers | Michael Tomasky | June 20, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • On the way I passed a gingerbread shop, and the fixed idea took hold of me that you must like gingerbread.

    Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautier
  • It seems to be a fixed idea that a girl is dependent on invitations from young men for her social pleasures.

    The Leaven in a Great City | Lillian William Betts
  • If I diagnose or treat the fixed idea of a psychasthenic, the psychological factor itself represents the disturbance.

    Psychotherapy | Hugo Mnsterberg
  • I cannot decide, but he has told me that never till that time did he realise the sustaining power of a fixed idea.

    The Life of Thomas Wanless, Peasant | Alexander Johnstone Wilson
  • The leader himself had one fixed idea in his mind, to reach Washington before Congress adjourned.

    Historic Adventures | Rupert S. Holland

British Dictionary definitions for fixed idea

fixed idea

noun
  1. an idea, esp one of an obsessional nature, that is persistently maintained and not subject to change: Also: idée fixe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012