fixed idea

American  

noun

1. a persistent or obsessing idea, often delusional, that can, in extreme form, be a symptom of psychosis.

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fixed idea British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of fixed idea

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fixed idea

Vallejo also dedicated three summers to the caddie program, getting up early, enduring the heat and carrying heavy bags, always with a fixed idea in mind.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2025

Getting a new view on someone I had such a fixed idea of who or want he was, and this is a way of understanding that.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2023

But “love of my life” is a fixed idea, and people are fluid, updating themselves over time.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 2023

Coalition 18 has no fixed idea of what form its organizing should take.

From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2021

R. M. Renfield, ætat 59.—Sanguine temperament; great physical strength; morbidly excitable; periods of gloom, ending in some fixed idea which I cannot make out.

From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker

Related Words

• craving
• craze
• craziness
• enthusiasm
• fad
• fascination
• frenzy
• infatuation
• lunacy
• obsession
• passion
• rage