IDEAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ideal mean? 

• IDEAL (noun)
  The noun IDEAL has 2 senses:

1. the idea of something that is perfect; something that one hopes to attain

2. model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

  Familiarity information: IDEAL used as a noun is rare.

• IDEAL (adjective)
  The adjective IDEAL has 3 senses:

1. conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or excellence; embodying an ideal

2. constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or mental image or conception

3. of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of the reality of ideas

  Familiarity information: IDEAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IDEAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The idea of something that is perfect; something that one hopes to attain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("ideal" is a kind of...):

idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ideal"):

value (an ideal accepted by some individual or group)

beau ideal; idol; paragon; perfection (an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept)

criterion; standard (the ideal in terms of which something can be judged)

example; exemplar; good example; model (something to be imitated)

ego ideal ((psychoanalysis) the part of the ego that contains an ideal of personal excellence toward which a person strives)

Derivation:

idealise (form ideals)

idealise (consider or render as ideal)

idealize (form ideals)

idealize (consider or render as ideal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

apotheosis; ideal; nonesuch; nonpareil; nonsuch; paragon; saint

Hypernyms ("ideal" is a kind of...):

model; role model (someone worthy of imitation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ideal"):

crackerjack; jimdandy; jimhickey (someone excellent of their kind)

class act (someone who shows impressive and stylish excellence)

humdinger (someone of remarkable excellence)

• IDEAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Conforming to an ultimate standard of perfection or excellence; embodying an ideal

Similar:

perfect (being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish)

Derivation:

ideality (the quality of being ideal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or mental image or conception

Context example:

a poem or essay may be typical of its period in idea or ideal content

Similar:

abstract (existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment)

Derivation:

idea (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

ideality (the quality of being ideal)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of the reality of ideas

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

ideal; idealistic

Pertainym:

idealism ((philosophy) the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality)

 Context examples 

The best weekend to go will be January 25-26, when Mars and travel planet Mercury will be in ideal sync.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

New stars and planetary systems arise in cloud-like regions of gas and dust in between stars, making these interstellar clouds the ideal places to start the search for life’s building blocks.

(Astronomers Reveal Interstellar Thread of One of Life’s Building Blocks, ESO)

The treated material is also ideal for food packaging, where it could stop the accidental transfer of bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella and listeria from raw chicken, meat and other foods.

(Scientists Create Superbug-Resistant Self-Cleaning Surface, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A spatial plot showing values in an image that result from an ideal very narrow line activity concentration source.

(Line Spread Function, NCI Thesaurus)

A characteristic of an image that measures its perceived quality, especially as compared to an ideal or perfect image.

(Image Quality, NCI Thesaurus)

Correct perfect match (PM) probe levels using the ideal mismatch algorithm.

(MAS Probe Correction Method, NCI Thesaurus)

The condition of weighing two, three, or more times the ideal weight, so called because it is associated with many serious and life-threatening disorders.

(Morbid Obesity, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A non-SI unit of osmotic pressure equal to that of an ideal solution of a nondissociating substance that has a concentration of one mole of solute per liter of solution.

(Osmole, NCI Thesaurus)

Issue associated with an optical defect in an image-forming system whereby the image is not the shape of an ideal image of the object.

(Optical Distortion Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

It’s not ideal from a dignity perspective, but the evidence is it’s better to wash your hands with laundry water than not wash your hands.

(Slightly dirty water ‘still ok’ against coronavirus, SciDev.Net)