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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fixed idea

“I don’t usually have a fixed idea of what I want to do and don’t know how the painting will turn out. Countless ideas come into my head,” Kusama once told the Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

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

"Picasso had sketches he didn't sell and weren't as popular as other things. Every artist has an audience for different things they do, so there's no fixed idea of what success is."

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2018

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

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