fixed idea

noun

An idée fixe, an obsession, a fixation.

OriginFrench idée fixe →
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Meanings

nounfixed idea (plural fixed ideas)

plural fixed ideas

  1. An idée fixe, an obsession, a fixation.

    [I]t was systemic, directed by Washington and signaling a rapprochement between the Americans and Havana, the imminence of which was a fixed idea among Miami Cubans.

    1987, Joan Didion, Miami, Granta, published 2005, page 77

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
idée fixe

Origin

  1. Frenchidée fixe
  2. Englishfixed idea

Calque of French idée fixe.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

fixed idea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fixed%20idea

MLA

“fixed idea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fixed%20idea. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fixed idea,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fixed%20idea.

Source: fixed idea on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.