preconceived idea
3
4.3
- noun
- /ˌpriːkənˈsiːvd aɪˈdiːə/
:
idea preconcebida
- Her preconceived idea that all teenagers are rebellious changed after she got to know her neighbor's son.
- students' preconceived ideas
- often have preconceived ideas
So people come in with their preconceived idea that you have to rebut.
- So people come in with their preconceived idea that you have to rebut.
- You know, the letting go for me is like the letting go of preconceived ideas about what it is that you are going to do.
- I don't have to come in with this preconceived idea.
- And that's what I love about them, that they had no preconceived ideas about their own characters.
Examples
-
So people come in with their preconceived idea that you have to rebut.
-
Such were our preconceived ideas.
Fiction book (2000) -
I had preconceived ideas about what Key West was.
-
And what that means is you let go of all of your preconceived ideas of who somebody else should be.
-
In truth, I had no preconceived idea about what a country should be like.
Fiction book (2000) -
First, she encourages readers to question their own preconceived ideas.
Fiction book (1996) -
Too often in healthcare, we make quick judgments that are based on limited information and preconceived ideas.
Academic text (2013) -
Fadwa Tuqan had come to England in 1962 with preconceived ideas about the country and its people.
Academic text (2003) -
I knew that if I was going to make any kind of impact on these boys' preconceived ideas about poetry, I must find a way to have poetry speak to the "boy-ness" of my students.
Academic text (2015) -
Many teachers have preconceived ideas about the effectiveness of new strategies they learn from unstructured short-term professional development sessions.
Academic text (2014)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A person's view about something
∞
1.1
A feeling that something is true even without proof
513
3.5
A belief people accept as true without proof
288
4.8
A guess or idea made without enough proof
180
4.8
An unfair belief about a person or group formed without good reason
35
5.8
An idea accepted as true without proof used as a basis for thinking or action
19
6.8
An opinion you form before you have enough facts that makes you judge unfairly
12
5.6
An opinion you form before you have enough facts
5
7.7
A belief people accept as true before they discuss something
4
3.3
A simple idea or belief that people accept without proof and that supports an argument
2
7.1
An opinion made before you know all the facts
1
5.3
An opinion you form before you know enough facts
1
9.5
An idea you think may be true
An idea you have before you know or see something
A strong opinion made before knowing all the facts
An opinion you form before you know enough
How Biased
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'preconceived' (formed beforehand) modifies 'idea' (a belief), so a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer an 'idea formed before having sufficient evidence'. This pattern is common across languages (e.g. Spanish 'idea preconcebida', French 'idée préconçue') and follows transparent English morphological composition, making it accessible to B1 learners.
Etymology
The phrase preconceived idea comes from pre meaning 'before' and conceived meaning 'formed in the mind'. It is like making a picture of someone before you meet them and then judging them early, so it means 'an opinion formed before you have the facts'.