Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use idea in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun

Idea means an abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples. Example: “The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.”

Examples of idea by meaning

nounAn abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure...

  • The idea that the same experiments always get the same results, no matter who performs them, is one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objective truth.2013 October 19, “Trouble at the lab”, in The Economist, volume 409, number 8858

nounAn image of an object that is formed in the mind or recalled by the memory.

  • The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.

nounMore generally, any result of mental activity; a thought, a notion; a way of thinking.

  • Ideas won't go to jail.1952, Alfred Whitney Griswold, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

nounA conception in the mind of something to be done; a plan for doing something, an intention.

  • I have an idea of how we might escape.

nounA purposeful aim or goal; intent.

  • Yeah, that's the idea.
  • But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close.2013 June 1, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71

nounA vague or fanciful notion; a feeling or hunch; an impression.

  • He had the wild idea that if he leant forward a little, he might be able to touch the mountain-top.

More sentences with idea

  • This idea has been about for a while but has only recently become fashionable.From the entry about
  • The idea was new to me. I need to meet new people.From the entry new
  • I don't think it's a good idea for you and me to meet.From the entry for
  • The very idea of climbing the ladder brings me out in a sweat.From the entry very
  • The former is a good idea but the latter is not.From the entry former
  • Do you think it is a bad idea to confront him directly?From the entry bad
  • The idea that the Bible should be translated into vernaculars was explosive in medieval society.From the entry vernacular
  • The committee would like to entertain the idea of reducing the budget figures.From the entry entertain
  • As the story goes, he got the idea for the song while sitting in traffic.From the entry go
  • We have given body to what was just a vague idea.From the entry body
  • That seems like a bad idea put against the restrictions we're working under.From the entry put
  • I’m set against the idea of smacking children to punish them.From the entry set
  • I floated the idea of free ice cream on Fridays, but no one was interested.From the entry float
  • It was a rotten idea to take the boat out today.From the entry rotten
  • I haven't any idea of the answer, so I'll have to pass.From the entry pass
  • The paper contains a number of original ideas about color perception.From the entry original
  • I think we've all got the idea. There's no need to labour the point.From the entry labour
  • As a kick start for the group, let's write up some ideas.From the entry kick start
  • Joe's crashing Higher Physics, even after I told him it was a bad idea.From the entry crash
  • Socrates argued against the idea of the soul being a harmonia.From the entry harmonia
  • We put our ideas together and they eventually gelled into a saleable product.From the entry gel
  • We came up with some new ideas at the game jam.From the entry jam
  • Aged 18, he had no idea what to do with his life.From the entry aged
  • This idea isn't a runner. Let's not waste any more time on it.From the entry runner
  • The idea was so ridiculous that it's a wonder anyone went along with it.From the entry wonder
  • The decade produced a whole crop of ideas about space travel.From the entry crop
  • This dreadful idea is the spawn of a large business conglomerate.From the entry spawn
  • The idea of beauty is not positive, but depends on the different tastes of individuals.From the entry positive
  • Plato made the causes of things to be matter, ideas, and an efficient architect.From the entry architect
  • They had to think originally to come up with those creative ideas.From the entry originally
  • I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business.From the entry toy
  • I'm meeting Bob later to bounce some ideas off him about the new product range.From the entry bounce
  • Some of her comments really came from left field. I have no idea what she was thinking.From the entry left field

Meaning of idea

  1. noun An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.
  2. noun The conception of someone or something as representing a perfect example; an ideal.
  3. noun The form or shape of something; a quintessential aspect or characteristic.

Full definition of idea

Questions about idea in a sentence

How do you use idea in a sentence?
Idea is used as a noun. For example: “The mere idea of you is enough to excite me.”
What is a short sentence with idea?
“Yeah, that's the idea.”
What does idea mean?
Idea means an abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: idea (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use idea in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/idea. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.