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Another word for idea

a-z
Noun

  1. That which exists in the mind as the product of careful mental activity

      1. Expectation or conception:
      2. The intellectual activity or production of a particular time or group:
      3. The process of thinking; cogitation:
      1. Insight or knowledge gained by thinking:
      2. The act of perceiving or the ability to perceive; mental grasp of objects, qualities, etc. by means of the senses; awareness; comprehension
      3. The process or state of being aware of something:
      1. A desire; inclination; whim
      2. Small lightweight items for household use, such as needles, buttons, and thread.
      3. A vague thought
      1. The concept or character projected to the public, as by a person or institution, especially as interpreted by the mass media:
      2. Likeness; semblance:
      3. A person or thing very much like another; copy; counterpart; likeness
      1. The act, process, or power of conceiving mentally; formulation of ideas, esp. of abstractions
      2. The ability to form or understand mental concepts and abstractions:
      3. Something conceived in the mind or believed by a group of people; a concept, thought, or belief:
      1. A general idea or understanding of something:
      2. A plan or original idea:
      3. An idea or thought, esp. a generalized idea of a thing or class of things; abstract notion

  2. Something believed or accepted as true by a person

      1. An examination using the eyes; a look:
      2. A way of showing or seeing something, as from a particular position or angle:
      3. An individual and personal perception, judgment, or interpretation; an opinion:
      1. The thought or meaning behind something said, done, or given, as distinct from the literal statement, act, etc.
      2. A thought, opinion, judgment, or attitude, usually the result of careful consideration, but often colored with emotion
      3. A thought, view, or attitude, especially one based mainly on emotion instead of reason:
      1. The way in which something is placed:
      2. The manner in which a person or thing is placed or posed, or the manner in which parts are arranged [a dog in a sitting position]; specif., any of various customary postures assumed by an individual [the lotus position] or a couple [the missionary position]
      3. A point of view or attitude on a certain question:
      1. A strong belief; conviction
      2. (Informal) Kind, sort, sex, etc.
      3. A party, faction, or group holding to a particular set of ideas or beliefs.
      1. An attorney's formal, usually written statement giving an assessment of how the law should be or is likely to be applied in a particular situation.
      2. A judgment or estimation of the merit of a person or thing:
      3. A belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but on what seems true, valid, or probable to one's own mind; judgment
      1. A vague thought
      2. A desire; inclination; whim
      3. A belief; opinion; view
      1. Focus of thought; attention:
      2. The part or faculty of a person by which one feels, perceives, thinks, remembers, desires, and imagines:
      3. Opinion or sentiment:
      1. The emotions thought to be conveyed or intended by a work of art:
      2. The sense of touch:
      3. Appreciative regard or understanding:
      1. The state or appearance of being convinced:
      2. A fixed or strong belief.
      3. The state of being found or proved guilty:
      1. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something:
      2. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another:
      3. The state of believing; conviction or acceptance that certain things are true or real

  3. Intuitive cognition

      1. The feeling or state of mind of a person who suspects
      2. The state or feeling of having no confidence or certainty about something; distrust:
      3. The act or an instance of suspecting something on little or no evidence:
      1. Something known or learned in this way
      2. The direct knowing or learning of something without the conscious use of reasoning; immediate understanding
      1. A vague notion, remembrance, or belief:
      2. (Dentistry) An imprint of the teeth and surrounding tissues, formed with a plastic material that hardens into a mold for use in making dentures, inlays, or plastic models.
      3. An effect, feeling, or image retained as a consequence of experience:
      1. A push or shove.
      2. A guess or feeling not based on known facts; premonition or suspicion
      3. An intuitive feeling or a premonition:
      1. The sense of touch:
      2. An awareness or impression:
      3. Appreciative regard or understanding:

  4. A method for making, doing, or accomplishing something

      1. A stratagem or the artful use of stratagems
      2. The art or skill of using stratagems in endeavors such as politics and business.
      3. A plan of action resulting from strategy or intended to accomplish a specific goal.
      1. An orderly plan or arrangement of related parts:
      2. An orderly combination of things on a definite plan; system
      3. A visionary plan or project
      1. (Psychol.) A mental image produced in response to a stimulus, that becomes a framework or basis for analyzing or responding to other related stimuli
      2. (Psychology) A pattern imposed on complex reality or experience to assist in explaining it, mediate perception, or guide response.
      3. A plan, outline, or model:
      1. A housing project.
      2. A proposal of something to be done; plan; scheme
      3. An undertaking requiring concerted effort:
      1. An orderly or step-by-step conception or proposal for accomplishing an objective:
      2. A systematic arrangement of elements or important parts; a configuration or outline:
      3. A scheme or program for making, doing, or arranging something; project, design, schedule, etc.
      1. The manner in which anything is laid out; arrangement; specif., the plan or makeup of a newspaper, book page, advertisement, etc.
      2. A page or set of pages marked to indicate this design.
      3. A plan for such arrangement.
      1. Any long-range strategy to reach an objective
      2. (Sports) The strategy devised before or used during an event.
      3. (Idiomatic) Any strategy devised to reach a given objective.
      1. A reasoned purpose; an intent:
      2. A plan; scheme; project
      3. A particular plan or method:
      1. A type of paper-based reproduction process producing white-on-blue images, used primarily for technical and architecture's drawings, now largely replaced by other technologies.
      2. (Informal, by extension) Any detailed plan, whether literal or figurative.
      3. Any exact or detailed plan or outline

  5. The gist of a specific action or situation

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for idea

Noun

  1. Something one thinks or knows

      1. Something formed or constructed from parts.
      2. A concept or theory devised to integrate in an orderly way the diverse data on a phenomenon
      3. Something built or put together systematically
      1. A slight understanding or vague idea or notion.
      2. An indirect suggestion; slight indication; hint
      1. A humorous imitation of the voice and mannerisms of a famous person.
      2. (Printing) All the copies of a publication printed at one time from the same set of type.
      3. An effect, feeling, or image retained as a consequence of experience:
      1. A desire; inclination; whim
      2. Small lightweight items for household use, such as needles, buttons, and thread.
      3. A vague thought
      1. Expectation or conception:
      2. The process of thinking; cogitation:
      3. The intellectual activity or production of a particular time or group:
      1. The act, process, or power of conceiving mentally; formulation of ideas, esp. of abstractions
      2. The ability to form or understand mental concepts and abstractions:
      3. Something conceived in the mind or believed by a group of people; a concept, thought, or belief:
      1. A general idea or understanding of something:
      2. A plan or original idea:
      3. An idea or thought, esp. a generalized idea of a thing or class of things; abstract notion

  2. A conviction

      1. A mental impression; general notion; concept
      2. The act, process, or power of conceiving mentally; formulation of ideas, esp. of abstractions
      3. The ability to form or understand mental concepts and abstractions:
      1. Something taught as the principles or creed of a religion, political party, etc.; tenet or tenets; belief; dogma
      2. A rule, theory, or principle of law
      3. A principle or body of principles presented for acceptance or belief, as by a religious, political, scientific, or philosophic group; dogma.
      1. An examination using the eyes; a look:
      2. A way of showing or seeing something, as from a particular position or angle:
      3. An individual and personal perception, judgment, or interpretation; an opinion:
      1. A piece of testimony that is not usually admissible when given by a layperson, as in contrast to an opinion given by an expert witness.
      2. A judgment based on special knowledge and given by an expert:
      3. The prevailing view:

  3. A plan

      1. An advance or overture made by one person to another.
      2. The method used in dealing with or accomplishing:
      3. A way or means of reaching something; an access:
      1. An orderly plan or arrangement of related parts:
      2. A secret or devious plan; a plot:
      3. An orderly combination of things on a definite plan; system
      1. The art or practice of designing or making designs:
      2. A reasoned purpose; an intent:
      3. The purposeful or inventive arrangement of parts or details:
      1. (Medicine) The process by which or the manner in which a wound heals.
      2. The action or fact of intending:
      3. An aim that guides action; an objective:

  4. Fancy

      1. Something, such as an invention, that is a creation of the fancy.
      2. (Music) A coin issued especially by a questionable authority and not intended for use as currency.
      3. A work of fiction portraying highly characters or settings that have no counterparts in the real world
      1. A sudden fancy; idle and passing notion; capricious idea or desire
      2. Arbitrary thought or impulse:
      3. A kind of winch or capstan powered by a horse or steam, formerly used in mines to raise ore or water
      1. Quaint, fanciful, or playful humor:
      2. A quaint and fanciful idea. A whim. Playfully odd behaviour.
      3. Something odd or whimsical, as an art object, piece of writing, etc.

  5. Meaning

Synonym Study

  • Impression also implies vagueness of an idea provoked by some external stimulus I have the impression that she's unhappy
  • Notion suggests a vague thought or one not fully considered I had a notion to go
  • Thought is used of any idea, whether or not expressed, that occurs to the mind in reasoning or contemplation she rarely speaks her thoughts
  • concept ion" style="font-weight: 600; color: inherit; text-decoration-color: #3A65B5" > Conception , often equivalent to concept, specifically refers to something conceived in the mind, or imagined my conception of how the role should be played
  • Concept refers to a generalized idea of a class of objects, based on knowledge of particular instances of the class his concept of a republic
  • Idea , the most general of these terms, may be applied to anything existing in the mind as an object of knowledge or thought
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • The idea came to her suddenly.

  • The idea of free trade has divided people for as long as trade has existed.

  • Any idea where she is tonight?

  • And yet, the idea was enticing... almost an obsession.

  • I had no idea anyone was around.

More sentences →

Words that mention idea in the Dictionary

Words near idea in the Thesaurus