fixed idea

noun

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

fixed idea

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of fixed idea¹

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

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.

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Long before the friendly drop-ins on Mar-a-Lago or inauguration fund donations, it had become a fixed idea among wags and wonks that the industry had gone “too far” in its commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion after the 2020 murder of George Floyd and was due for a correction.

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“The fight against the mine was from people who live in the cities who have a fixed idea of how people who live in the countryside should be living. Having worked with local people for the last 10 years I can tell you that their lives were much better because of the mine.”

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But what’s very real about this comedy-thriller-love story, which arrives on Netflix on Friday, is that it represents the director’s continued willingness to keep trying new things, to never settle on a fixed idea of the kinds of movies he makes.

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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.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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