idea

[ ahy-dee-uh, ahy-deeuh ]

/ aɪˈdi ə, aɪˈdiə /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR idea ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity.

a thought, conception, or notion: That is an excellent idea.

an impression: He gave me a general idea of how he plans to run the department.

an opinion, view, or belief: His ideas on raising children are certainly strange.

a plan of action; an intention: the idea of becoming an engineer.

a groundless supposition; fantasy.

Philosophy.

a concept developed by the mind.
a conception of what is desirable or ought to be; ideal.
(initial capital letter)Platonism.Also called form. an archetype or pattern of which the individual objects in any natural class are imperfect copies and from which they derive their being.
Kantianism. idea of pure reason.

Music. a theme, phrase, or figure.

Obsolete.

a likeness.
a mental image.

Nearby words

idc, idd, iddhi, iddm, ide, ideas, idea hamster, idea man, idea of pure reason, idea of reference, ideaistic

Origin of idea

1400–50; < Late Latin < Greek idéā form, pattern, equivalent to ide- (stem of ideîn to see) + -ā feminine noun ending; replacing late Middle English idee < Middle French < Late Latin, as above; akin to wit¹

SYNONYMS FOR idea

1, 2 Idea, thought, conception, notion refer to a product of mental activity. Idea, although it may refer to thoughts of any degree of seriousness or triviality, is commonly used for mental concepts considered more important or elaborate: We pondered the idea of the fourth dimension. The idea of his arrival frightened me. Thought, which reflects its primary emphasis on the mental process, may denote any concept except the more weighty and elaborate ones: I welcomed his thoughts on the subject. A thought came to him. Conception suggests a thought that seems complete, individual, recent, or somewhat intricate: The architect's conception delighted them. Notion suggests a fleeting, vague, or imperfect thought: a bare notion of how to proceed.

4 sentiment, judgment.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR idea ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsi·de·a·less, adjectivepre·i·de·a, nounsub·i·de·a, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ideas

Submission is less a novel of ideas than a political book, and of the most subversive kind.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In conversation, her ideas emerge at a roiling boil that often takes on a momentum of its own.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We were on her roof talking and trying to come up with ideas, to think of alternatives to renting a studio.
#Setinthestreet: Your Street Corner Is Their Art Project|James Joiner|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Right now, former Virginia Senator James Webb may prove the best vehicle for dino-Democratic ideas.
Time to Bring Back the Truman Democrats|Joel Kotkin|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Hitchcock identifies the good stuff quickly, and his own ideas are almost always right.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The forbidden produce of our ideas was favoured even by those whose charge was to exclude it.
History of the Girondists, Volume I|Alphonse de Lamartine
What train of ideas, for example, is suggested to the average reader by the Roll-Chair Company?
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XVII. No. 101. May, 1876.|Various
He expatiated with great profoundness and fertility of ideas, on the uses to which a faculty like this might be employed.
Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist|Charles Brockden Brown
The letters with which Mr. Reeve has favored me give glimpses of how ideas and calls came to her sometimes.
Harriet Martineau|Florence Fenwick Miller
As a contribution to that change of ideas and of values these pages are offered.
The Fruits of Victory|Norman Angell

British Dictionary definitions for ideas (1 of 2)

idea

/ (aɪˈdɪə) /

noun

any content of the mind, esp the conscious mind

the thought of somethingthe very idea appals me

a mental representation of somethingshe's got a good idea of the layout of the factory

the characterization of something in general terms; conceptthe idea of a square circle is self-contradictory

an individual's conception of somethinghis idea of honesty is not the same as yours and mine

the belief that something is the casehe has the idea that what he's doing is right

a scheme, intention, plan, etchere's my idea for the sales campaign

a vague notion or indication; inklinghe had no idea of what life would be like in Africa

significance or purposethe idea of the game is to discover the murderer

philosophy

a private mental object, regarded as the immediate object of thought or perception
a Platonic Idea or Form

music a thematic phrase or figure; motif

obsolete a mental image

get ideas to become ambitious, restless, etc

not one's idea of not what one regards as (hard work, a holiday, etc)

that's an idea that is worth considering

the very idea! that is preposterous, unreasonable, etc

Derived Formsidealess, adjective

Word Origin for idea

C16: via Late Latin from Greek: model, pattern, notion, from idein to see

usage

It is usually considered correct to say that someone has the idea of doing something, rather than the idea to do it: he had the idea of taking (not the idea to take) a short holiday

British Dictionary definitions for ideas (2 of 2)

Idea

/ (aɪˈdɪə) /

noun

another name for Form

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

Word Origin and History for ideas

idea

late 14c., "archetype of a thing in the mind of God; Platonic `idea,'" from Latin idea "idea," and in Platonic philosophy "archetype," from Greek idea "ideal prototype," literally "the look of a thing (as opposed to the reality); form; kind, sort, nature," from idein "to see," from PIE *wid-es-ya-, suffixed form of root *weid- "to see" (see vision). Sense of "result of thinking" first recorded 1640s.

Men of one idea, like a hen with one chicken, and that a duckling. [Thoreau, "Walden"]

Idée fixe (1836) is from French, literally "fixed idea."

Medicine definitions for ideas

idea

[ ī-dē′ə ]

n.

Something, such as a thought or conception, that potentially or actually exists in the mind as a product of mental activity.

Idioms and Phrases with ideas

idea

see bright idea; put ideas in someone's head; what's the idea.

idea

noun

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Origin of idea

Examples from the Web for ideas

British Dictionary definitions for ideas (1 of 2)

idea

noun

Word Origin for idea

usage

British Dictionary definitions for ideas (2 of 2)

Idea

noun

Word Origin and History for ideas

idea

Medicine definitions for ideas

idea

n.

Idioms and Phrases with ideas

idea