preconception
Americannoun
-
an idea or opinion formed beforehand
-
a bias; prejudice
Other Word Forms
- preconceptional adjective
Etymology
Origin of preconception
First recorded in 1615–25; pre- + conception
Explanation
A preconception is an idea or opinion you have about something before you really know much about it. You might have the preconception that all New Yorkers are rude until you visit the city and start meeting friendly people. Imagine you give your friend an assessment of a popular TV show, saying, "Oh, it's so boring!" despite the fact that you've never seen it. Your negative opinion of the show is a preconception — you may be correct about the show, but you won't know until you actually sit down a watch a few episodes. Preconception comes from pre, "before," and the Latin concipere, "to take in and hold."
Vocabulary lists containing preconception
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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Primates
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Part 2 Vocabulary (Unit 5)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The big preconception in wrestling is that performers do not get hurt, Annabelle said, but she has the bruises to show this is not the case.
From BBC • Mar. 6, 2025
The team found that women who experienced higher preconception stress had higher mean glucose levels.
From Science Daily • Jan. 4, 2024
“I do know there’s this preconception that the festival is a little more of a film nerd thing,” Huntsinger says.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2023
Where Young pushed against the preconception that all Native American music included the chants and drums of powwows, Joe Rainey leaned into the typecasting.
From New York Times • Aug. 15, 2022
Then there are others where fable, myth, preconception, love, longing, or prejudice step in and so distort a cool, clear appraisal that a kind of high-colored magical confusion takes permanent hold.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
