Ideal
[aɪ'dɪəl;aɪ'diːəl] or [aɪ'diəl]
Definition
(noun.) the idea of something that is perfect; something that one hopes to attain.
(noun.) model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal.
(adj.) constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or mental image or conception; 'a poem or essay may be typical of its period in idea or ideal content' .
(adj.) conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or excellence; embodying an ideal .
(adj.) of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of the reality of ideas .
Editor: Whitney--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Existing in idea or thought; conceptional; intellectual; mental; as, ideal knowledge.
(a.) Reaching an imaginary standard of excellence; fit for a model; faultless; as, ideal beauty.
(a.) Existing in fancy or imagination only; visionary; unreal.
(a.) Teaching the doctrine of idealism; as, the ideal theory or philosophy.
(a.) Imaginary.
(n.) A mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection; a model of excellence, beauty, etc.
Checked by Anita
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Intellectual, mental.[2]. Imaginary, unreal, fanciful, fantastic, fancied, illusory, chimerical, visionary, shadowy.
n. Imaginary standard, ideal model of perfection.
Edited by Juanita
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Mental, notional, conceptional, intellectual, creative, spiritual, poetical,supposititious, fictitious, unreal, imaginary, chimerical, fanciful,imaginative
ANT:Physical, visible, material, tangible, historical, real, actual, palpable,substantial
Editor: Vito
Unserious Contents or Definition
For a young woman to dream of meeting her ideal, foretells a season of uninterrupted pleasure and contentment. For a bachelor to dream of meeting his ideal, denotes he will soon experience a favorable change in his affairs.
Typed by Ewing
Examples
- Judaism is indeed the reconstructed political ideal of many shattered peoples--mainly Semitic. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- That was the ideal side. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- To make the manufacture of instruments an ideal is to lose much of their ideal value. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- It was an ideal friendship, incomparably valuable for Davy. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- The days of Homer were his ideal, when a man was chief of an army of heroes, or spent his years in wonderful Odyssey. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- No; he was quite sure that she was an ideal woman, so therefore worshipped her—unseen, unheard—with all the chivalrous affection of a medi?val knight. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- In modern times we should say that art is not merely imitation, but rather the expression of the ideal in forms of sense. Plato. The Republic.
- It is, too, an ideal for labor. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- This, which he had intended to make more of the ordinary type, he gradually brings round to the other or ideal form. Plato. The Republic.
- The coincidence of the ideal of progress with the advance of science is not a mere coincidence. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- She found in an upper-class official, Calonne, her ideal minister of finance. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Is this ideal at all the worse for being impracticable? Plato. The Republic.
- Yes, he said, that is the ideal of a judge. Plato. The Republic.
- The direct production of electric energy by the combustion of coal would be the ideal method. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- For politics whose only ideal is the routine, it is just as well that men shouldn't know what they want or how to express it. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- First, the majority of people in the community have low ideals. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It could lynch one as a moral monster, when as a matter of fact his ideals were commonplace; it could proclaim one a great benefactor when in truth he was a rather dull old gentleman. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The military feelings, says James, are too deeply grounded to abdicate their place among our ideals until better substitutes are offered . Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The old ideals are dead as nails--nothing there. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Words, the counters for ideals, are, however, easily taken for ideas. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- It would be hard to find a subject in the curriculum within which there are not found evil results of a compromise between the two opposed ideals. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- But these ideals had no counterpart in actual life. Plato. The Republic.
- It meant a rebellion against existing social institutions, customs, and ideals (See ante, p. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The only practical ideals in a democracy are a fine expression of natural wants. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- It was, I believe, an array of idols disguised as ideals. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Although his educational philosophy was revolutionary, it was none the less in bondage to static ideals. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- For ideals, a pious phrase; in practice, the police. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Another in fluence tending to check the advance of the sciences was the clash between Christ ian and Pagan ideals. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- In short, the most hardened socialist admits choice and deliberation, culture and ideals into his working faith. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- And politics, however pretentiously rhetorical about ideals, is irrelevant if the only method it knows is to ostracize the desires it cannot manage. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Typed by Anatole