- idea
- noun1 plan/suggestionADJECTIVE▪ bright, brilliant, clever, excellent, good, great, marvellous/marvelous, nice, wonderful▪ valuable, worthwhile▪ exciting, interesting, stimulating▪ constructive, positive▪ creative, imaginative, innovative, novel, original▪ wacky▪ big▪
The latest big idea is to get women more interested in soccer.
▪ alternative▪Family therapy is used as an alternative idea to medication.
▪ fresh, new▪ old▪ absurd, bad, mistaken, ridiculous, stupid▪ crackpot, crazy, mad, outlandish, wild▪ half-baked▪ ambitious, big, grand▪He joined the company as an office assistant with big ideas.
▪ grandiose▪ basic▪The basic idea is that we all meet up in London.
▪ whole▪I think the whole idea is ridiculous.
VERB + IDEA▪ have▪Do you have any ideas for a present for Lara?
▪ come up with, dream up, hit on, hit upon, produce, think up▪ draw, get▪Her ideas are drawn mainly from Chinese art.
▪ contribute, offer▪ moot (formal, esp. BrE), propose, put forward, suggest▪ promote, push, push forward, sell▪They managed to push the idea of expanding through the committee.
▪ welcome▪Most employees welcome the idea of a ban on smoking.
▪ consider, entertain, flirt with, toy with▪I'm toying with the idea of leaving my job.
▪ mull over, turn over▪He kept turning the idea of resigning over in his mind.
▪ encourage, generate▪Brainstorming is a good way of generating ideas.
▪ reject, scoff at, veto▪ test, try, try out▪ bounce around, bounce off sb, brainstorm, discuss, explore, talk about▪I met up with a designer to bounce a few ideas around.
▪It's useful to have someone to bounce ideas off.
▪ exchange, pool, share▪ give sb▪What gave you the idea to go freelance?
▪ apply, implement, put into action, put into practice, take up▪The idea had long been mooted but nothing had been done to put it into practice.
▪ transform, translate▪How could we translate the idea into business reality?
▪ steal▪She accused the company of stealing her idea.
▪ impose▪She always tries to impose her own ideas on the rest of the team.
IDEA + VERB▪ come into sb's brain, come into sb's head, come into sb's mind, come to sb, flash through sb's brain, flash through sb's mind, hit sb, occur to sb, pop into sb's head, strike sb▪The idea for the invention came to him in the bath.
▪ emerge, evolve, form, grow▪An idea began to form in his mind.
▪ flow▪His ideas flowed faster than he could express them.
▪ come from sb/sth, date back from sth, date back to sth, originate, start, stem from sth▪The idea for the Olympics originated with Pierre de Coubertin.
▪ work, work out▪That idea didn't work out so well.
▪ lead▪The idea eventually led to the invention of the telephone.
▪ come to nothingPREPOSITION▪ idea about▪I have an idea about how to tackle the problem.
▪ idea for▪We were asked to suggest ideas for improving efficiency.
▪ idea of▪She had the idea of advertising on the Internet.
PHRASES▪ be open to ideas▪I don't know what to do, but I'm open to ideas.
▪ the germ of an idea▪The germ of his idea came from watching a bird make a nest.
▪ have other ideas▪I wanted to take the week off, but my boss had other ideas.
▪ have the right idea▪The party had the right idea, but failed to win over the voters.
▪ it might be an idea▪It might be an idea to leave a note on the door for Marcos.
2 thought/impressionADJECTIVE▪ clear, concrete, precise▪ abstract▪ theoretical▪ basic, general, rough, vague▪He gave me a rough idea of what was wanted.
▪ central, key, main▪The book introduces the key ideas of sociology.
▪ dominant▪ fixed▪ preconceived▪ definite, firm, strong▪She has very definite ideas about what kind of a job she wants.
▪ complex, difficult▪ simple, simplistic▪The movie is based on a simple idea, but a powerful one.
▪ conventional▪ traditional▪ radical, revolutionary▪ contradictory▪ erroneous, false, wrong▪I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea about me.
▪ funny, strange▪ utopian▪ romantic▪People have a romantic idea of the police force.
▪ newfangled▪ outdated▪ not the faintest, not the foggiest, not the slightest (all informal)▪I haven't the faintest idea what she meant.
▪ artistic, economic, intellectual, moral, musical, philosophical, political, scientific▪ feminist, nationalist, socialist, etc.VERB + IDEA▪ get▪They got the idea that we would be paying for them.
▪You'll soon get the idea (= understand).
▪ espouse, have, hold▪He holds very different ideas to mine about discipline.
▪ develop, form, shape▪the experiences that shaped her ideas
▪ introduce▪ express▪ communicate, convey, get across, get over, present, promote, put out there (AmE)▪It was a struggle to get our ideas across.
▪I wanted to put the idea out there.
▪ demonstrate, explain, expound, illustrate▪ clarify, formalize, formulate, organize, structure▪Give careful thought to how to structure your ideas in the essay.
▪ reinforce, support▪ change, reconsider, revise▪They had to reconsider their ideas in the light of new evidence.
▪ accept, embrace, take up▪ dismiss, reject▪ challenge▪These photographs challenge conventional ideas of beauty.
▪ harbour/harbor▪I hope he's not still harbouring/harboring ideas about asking me out.
▪ be obsessed with▪He's obsessed with the idea of getting a motorcycle.
▪ relish▪I don't relish the idea of sharing an office with Tony.
IDEA + VERB▪ amuse sb, appeal to sb, please sb▪The idea of going to his rescue amused her.
▪ catch on, take hold, take off▪Some people started recycling, and the idea caught on.
PREPOSITION▪ idea about▪She has some funny ideas about how to motivate staff.
▪ idea behind▪The idea behind the ceremony is to keep the gods happy to ensure a good crop.
▪ idea of▪Swimming in an icy river is not my idea of fun.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
