idea noun
1-) plan, purpose, or suggestion
ADJECTIVES
bright, brilliant, clever, excellent, good, great, marvellous, fantastic
・Their bright idea saved us a lot of time and effort.
valuable, worthwhile • exciting, inspirational, interesting, stimulating
・The professor's lecture was filled with inspirational ideas.
creative, imaginative, ingenious, original • fresh, new, novel
・He had an ingenious idea that revolutionized the industry.
innovative, radical, revolutionary • constructive, positive
・His revolutionary idea changed the world.
absurd, bad, half-baked, impractical, mistaken, silly, stupid, ridiculous
・She is known for her absurd ideas in the field of technology.
crackpot, crazy, mad, wild, fanciful, hare-brained, ludicrous, outlandish, preposterous, utopian, wacky
・The conference sparked discussions about outlandish ideas.
ambitious, big, grand, grandiose • basic • practical • alternative
・The book presents a collection of practical ideas.
VERBS
have, come up with, dream up, hit on/upon, produce, conceive, think up
・The team came up with a brilliant idea to solve the problem.
draw, get • develop, formulate
・His ideas are drawn from personal experiences.
contribute, input, float, introduce, meet, pitch, present, suggest
・I encourage everyone to contribute their ideas to the discussion.
moot, put forward • promote, push (forward), sell
・Let's all promote innovative ideas to enhance our project.
articulate, communicate, convey, expound, express
・Each team member can communicate their ideas during our weekly meetings.
consider, entertain, flirt with, play with, toy with • mull over, turn over
・She toyed with the idea of traveling around the world.
embrace, like, welcome
・They welcome the idea of moving to a different city.
experiment with, explore • test, try out • look for
・I'm looking for ideas on how to decorate my living room.
encourage, generate, spark, stimulate
・We need to think outside the box to generate fresh ideas.
stifle • abandon, dismiss, reject, scoff at, veto
・He abandoned the idea of starting his own business.
bounce around, bounce off, brainstorm, discuss, talk about
・The purpose of this meeting is to bounce a few ideas around.
exchange, share, swap, pool • give
・I can't wait to share my great idea with everyone.
apply, implement, put into action/effect/practice
・It's time to put our ideas into action and start implementing them.
transform, translate • steal • impose
・We should impose these ideas to enhance customer satisfaction.
come into sb's head/mind, flash across/into sb's mind/brain, pop into sb's head
・In the midst of the conversation, a groundbreaking idea came into my head.
come to, hit, occur to, strike
・Suddenly, a revolutionary idea hit him out of the blue.
come from, originate, stem from, start, date back from/to
・The idea originated during a conference we had last week.
arise, emerge, evolve, develop, form, grow
・While brainstorming, a few ideas emerged from the group discussion.
flow • blossom, work (out) • lead
・The initial idea led to a series of successful projects.
NOUNS
business, design, fundraising, gift, recipe
・The business idea is to provide eco-friendly products.
PREPOSITIONS
about
・I have an idea about how to streamline our production process.
for
・He presented an idea for a new business model.
of
・He shared his idea of organizing a team-building retreat.
PHRASES
be full of ideas, be bursting with ideas
・She's always full of creative gift ideas for birthdays.
be open to ideas
・We're open to ideas on how to improve our team collaboration.
the germ/glimmering of an idea
・The germ of her idea started with a simple sketch on a napkin.
have other ideas
・If you have other ideas, please feel free to share them with us.
it might be an idea
・It might be an idea to conduct a survey to gather feedback.
fire/bounce ideas off one another
・They would often fire ideas off each other during their brainstorming sessions.
2-) thought, information, or impression
ADJECTIVES
clear, concrete, precise • definite, firm, strong
・The detailed map will give you a clear idea of the hiking trail.
basic, faint, rough, vague • abstract • theoretical
・I had a rough idea of the directions, but I still needed a map.
key, main • dominant • fixed, inflexible • preconceived
・The article outlined the key ideas of the scientific study.
・The documentary shattered my preconceived ideas about the culture.
complex, difficult • simplistic
・She skillfully presents complex ideas with clarity.
conventional • traditional • radical, revolutionary
・He can express radical ideas in a simple and engaging manner.
contradictory • erroneous, false, wrong
・I need to clarify my intentions to avoid you getting the wrong idea.
funny, strange • utopian • romantic
・She has a romantic idea of love that is based on fairy tales.
new-fangled • outdated
・They have an outdated idea about the benefits of traditional medicine.
artistic, economic, intellectual, moral, musical, philosophical, political, scientific
・Scientific ideas drive innovation and technological advancements.
fascist, feminist, nationalist, socialist
・Feminist ideas advocate for women's rights.
VERBS
get, espouse, have, hold
・I apologize if my behavior led to you getting the wrong idea about me.
develop, form, shape
・Traveling shaped her ideas about diversity and acceptance.
express, communicate, convey, get across, get over, present, put across
・The professor effectively puts across complex ideas to the students.
demonstrate, explain, expound, illustrate, give
・Visual aids such as charts and diagrams can effectively demonstrate complex ideas.
clarify, formalize, formulate, organize, structure
・Start with a strong thesis statement to structure your ideas.
change, reconsider, reshape, revise
・The conflicting data compelled me to reconsider my ideas.
accept • dismiss, reject • harbour
・The evidence presented forced me to reject my previously held ideas.
be obsessed with • relish
・She was obsessed with the idea that she was being watched.
amuse, appeal to, please • catch on, take hold
・The idea of a themed costume party caught on.
PREPOSITIONS
about
・He's got some very strange ideas about women!
behind
・The idea behind the social media platform is to connect people from all over the world.
of
・Playing video games is not my idea of a fulfilling hobby.
PHRASES
not the faintest/foggiest/remotest/slightest idea
・He didn't have the faintest idea how the others would react.