Thesaurus: ideal

Related headwords

Definitions

1. a. Existing in idea or thought; conceptional; intellectual; mental; as, ideal knowledge.
2. a. Reaching an imaginary standard of excellence; fit for a model; faultless; as, ideal beauty.
3. a. Existing in fancy or imagination only; visionary; unreal.
4. a. Teaching the doctrine of idealism; as, the ideal theory or philosophy.
5. a. Imaginary.
6. n. A mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection; a model of excellence, beauty, etc.
7. adj. conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or excellence; embodying an ideal
8. adj. constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or mental image or conception
9. adj. of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of the reality of ideas
10. n. the idea of something that is perfect; something that one hopes to attain
11. n. model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal
12. 1. Existing in idea or thought; conceptional; intellectual; mental; as, ideal knowledge. 2. Reaching an imaginary standard of excellence; fit for a model; faultless; as, ideal beauty. Byron. There will always be a wide interval between practical and ideal excellence. Rambler. 3. Existing in fancy or imagination only; visionary; unreal. "Planning ideal common wealth." Southey. 4. Teaching the doctrine of idealism; as, the ideal theory or philosophy. 5. (Math.) Imaginary. Syn. -- Intellectual; mental; visionary; fanciful; imaginary; unreal; impracticable; utopian. A mental conception regarded as a standard of perfection; a model of excellence, beauty, etc. The ideal is to be attained by selecting and assembling in one whole the beauties and perfections which are usually seen in different individuals, excluding everything defective or unseemly, so as to form a type or model of the species. Thus, the Apollo Belvedere is the ideal of the beauty and proportion of the human frame. Fleming. Beau ideal. See Beau ideal.