Word.ws English Dictionary

preconception

/ˌpɹiːkənˈsɛpʃən/US/ˌpɹikənˈsɛpʃən/

preconception noun: an opinion formed before obtaining adequate evidence, especially as the result of bias or prejudice.

Noun

preconception (plural preconceptions)

  1. An opinion formed before obtaining adequate evidence, especially as the result of bias or prejudice.
    • With many of the more general preconceptions of socialist thought the connection of their more practical proposals is by no means at once obvious, and in consequence many men who believe themselves to be determined opponents of that system of thought become in fact effective spreaders of its ideas.1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 422
    • He told RAIL: "We had no preconceptions, but you would assume a newer train to have better air quality than an older one. We found that was not necessarily the case.2021 October 6, Paul Clifton, “Network News: RSSB research exposes poor air quality on diesel trains”, in RAIL, number 941, page 14
    Synonyms:
    foreconception
  2. A prejudice that prevents rational consideration of an issue.

Adjective

preconception (not comparable)

  1. Preconceptional.

preconception meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada

preconception in Tamil

முன்பே உய்த்துணர்தல், அறியுமுன் கருத்துக்கொள்ளல், முன்முடிவு, அறியுமுன் கருத்து

preconception in Bengali

preconception, preconceived notion, prejudice
পূর্বধারণা purbodharona
preconception, preliminary assumption, prior estimation
পূর্বানুমান purbanuman

preconception in Malayalam

presupposition, preconceived idea, preconceived notion
പൂർവ്വകല്പന, മുൻവിധി, മുൻഅഭിപ്രായം, മുൻധാരണ, മുൻസങ്കല്പം, തെറ്റിദ്ധാരണ

preconception in Kannada

ಪೂರ್ವಗ್ರಹ, ಪೂರ್ವಕಲ್ಪನೆ, ಪೂರ್ವಾಲೋಚನೆ

Synonyms of preconception

Forms of preconception

pluralpreconceptions

Origin of preconception

From pre- + conception.

Questions about preconception

What does preconception mean?
Preconception means an opinion formed before obtaining adequate evidence, especially as the result of bias or prejudice.
What is preconception in Tamil?
Preconception in Tamil is முன்பே உய்த்துணர்தல், அறியுமுன் கருத்துக்கொள்ளல், முன்முடிவு. See Preconception meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is preconception?
Preconception can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce preconception?
Preconception is pronounced /ˌpɹiːkənˈsɛpʃən/ (UK).
What is the plural of preconception?
The plural of preconception is preconceptions.

Words near preconception in the dictionary

  1. preconcentration
  2. preconcentrations
  3. preconcentrator
  4. preconcentrators
  5. preconcept
  6. preconception
  7. preconceptional
  8. preconceptionally
  9. preconceptions
  10. preconcepts
  11. preconceptual

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: preconception (page history and authors); preconception (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); পূর্বধারণা (Bengali) (page history and authors); preconception (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); preconception (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-preconception.wav.

Cite this entry: “preconception.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/preconception. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.