noun

• 1An abstract idea.

  ‘structuralism is a difficult concept’

  More example sentences

  • ‘the concept of justice’
  • ‘The effect of this is to deny pupils the ability to deal with difficult abstract concepts.’
  • ‘If this nation has any regard for the abstract concept of ‘justice’ then this practice must end.’
  • ‘In that profession you start with a blank sheet of paper and a concept or abstract idea.’
  • ‘What is more, these decisions must often be based on concepts that are abstract and objectively difficult to understand.’
  • ‘The most difficult task for the mothers was to explain the concept of abstract nouns and mimetic words in Korean.’
  • ‘A common problem is when researchers use abstract concepts but participants interpret these literally.’
  • ‘They should convince you that the idea of trying to teach complex, abstract concepts to young children is silly.’
  • ‘One of the reasons is undoubtedly that stories bring ideas to life and help readers see abstract concepts in action.’
  • ‘Race, like gender, is an inherent quality, but religion's only an abstract concept, just a set of ideas.’
  • ‘This gives them a chance to understand abstract concepts slowly and goes a long way in strengthening their learning abilities.’
  • ‘A must see for all those who like abstract concepts set within the confines of a computer monitor, this is a film that shake up their system.’
  • ‘His work makes abstract concepts of technology come alive for me.’
  • ‘Freud's abstract, impersonal concepts have worn away the specificity of fictional character.’
  • ‘It's not an easy thing to grasp because at the centre lies, as Crick points out, a series of abstract legal and political concepts.’
  • ‘James can have fun with even the most basic abstract concepts.’
  • ‘My life is ruled by a concept so abstract it is sometimes mind-boggling.’
  • ‘As I said, it's a hard thought, a difficult concept to explain without sounding loopy.’
  • ‘Monkeys, for example, can have comprehend some surprisingly abstract concepts.’
  • ‘By making one characteristic after another disappear, we get more and more abstract concepts…’
  • ‘Did the student's work reveal a thorough understanding of abstract concepts?’

  Synonyms

  idea, notion, conception, abstraction, conceptualization

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1A plan or intention.
     ‘the centre has kept firmly to its original concept’
     More example sentences

     • ‘I think the impression of the completed film is the same as the original concept we had planned.’
     • ‘Formulating a design and a plan, from original concept to finished product, can take up to a week.’
     • ‘This process engages political processes to translate new concepts and plans into official policy.’
     • ‘Another challenge for the modular concept is how to plan for contingencies that require CSS modules.’
     • ‘The BCC plans to introduce the concept of garbage segregation at the source itself - that is at homes.’
     • ‘He has plans to take the concept to Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune soon.’
     • ‘As one person described it, more of a concept than a plan at this point, with a lot of things still need to be worked out.’
     • ‘He has plans to promote his concept across all major metros of the country.’
     • ‘We based our whole concept planning and timelines on what they assured us was going to go down.’
     • ‘The expectation is that key personnel already are aware of the relevant doctrinal and planning concepts.’
     • ‘This first article in a series on the plan examines the concepts behind focused logistics’
     • ‘The author revisits the concept and plans for the facility, and investigates the economics and politics of the time that lead to its demise.’
     • ‘More effort focused on the commander's intention, the concept, will reap great dividends for the commander and staff.’
     • ‘Their overall concept and attack plan was different, but they shared some of the same traits regarding the way they could adapt.’
     • ‘GFA initiated the concept and plan of the review.’
     • ‘And we also plan to introduce the concept of accountability in the NHI system.’
     • ‘As the first day of rehearsals drew closer, I changed my music selection three times, each time rejecting a concept and plans for a ballet.’
     • ‘Ernst and Young are putting together our business plan and the whole concept is coming together very well.’
     • ‘Schlieffen's exercise of 1905 has been described as that in which he revealed his concept for the Plan.’
     • ‘Each tour brings a new level to the original concept.’
  2. 1.2An idea or invention to help sell or publicize a commodity.
     ‘a new concept in corporate hospitality’
     More example sentences

     • ‘He used good science as the foundation for a public policy solution and good marketing to sell the concept to community leaders.’
     • ‘These are marketing decisions and I would not presume to know which concepts sell and which are an anathema.’
     • ‘The concept would then be sold on to a suitable developer.’
     • ‘Everything I was clinging onto at that time was defined by it and the trouble was I managed to sell the concept only too well.’
     • ‘O'Driscoll said he had been trying to sell the concept to wholesalers and retailers throughout the UK.’
     • ‘This exercise is all part of selling the museum concept and all promised to tell their friends about the area.’
     • ‘He struggled a lot selling his concept and then making films with a message.’
     • ‘The product being sold is less clear, and the concept being sold is lost.’
     • ‘It's also hoping that the concept might be sold elsewhere, although for now there have been no ‘concrete offers’.’
     • ‘Vendors are not selling the concept of return on investment in IT, he said because they are making too much money on the number of copies and prints made.’
     • ‘If the new store did well, Seymour would have a proven concept that he could sell in five years to someone interested in taking it national.’
     • ‘While the concept was ‘sold’ to the industry as a way of reducing costs, these have, in fact, increased dramatically.’
     • ‘As with other products, glassware decisions are usually only as important as what it is your concept sells the most.’
     • ‘The said the doll would be a hard concept to sell their customers.’
     • ‘The core infrastructure of the internet is now a commodity and the concept of standard web services is being accepted.’
     • ‘Early last year he tried to sell the concept to two large makers of men's grooming products, only to be rebuffed.’
     • ‘PDAs and smart phones have sold the concept of ultra-portability to millions of users worldwide, but not without a few caveats.’
     • ‘A friend told me yesterday that he had just sold a TV concept on behalf of a famous author he represents.’
     • ‘Northwave says it plans to broaden the concept to mountain and road shoes.’
     • ‘They still offer their original concept where they provide single-use cameras for use during camp sessions.’
  3. 1.3as modifier (of a car or other vehicle) produced as an experimental model to test the viability of innovative design features.
     ‘a concept car for next month's Geneva motor show’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Generally, really good concept cars serve as models for much milder production vehicles at some point.’
     • ‘I have mentioned only a few of the multitude of new vehicles and concept cars that were on display, some of which you may already have seen at last year's Birmingham Motor Show.’
     • ‘I certainly see there is plenty of good automotive art in this mix of new models and concept wagons.’
     • ‘Millions of people attend car shows to marvel over old cars and new concept vehicles.’
     • ‘And concept cars are niche vehicles almost by nature, and niches are places the majors visit all too infrequently.’
     • ‘All comments, printed or not, panned the design of the concept vehicle as dull and even pathetic.’
     • ‘Kort and Sancer were recruited to design concept cars for the auto-show circuit.’
     • ‘Toyota's Tokyo concept cars bear the first fruits of its new design objectives.’
     • ‘Kia and Hyundai both showed intriguing concept cars at this year's Detroit auto show.’
     • ‘One of the best features of every auto show is the concept vehicles each automaker showcases to the public.’
     • ‘No motor show would be complete without an array of concept cars and Geneva certainly didn't disappoint.’
     • ‘One of the most famous concept cars of the 20th century was a Buick.’
     • ‘Hella unveiled a working prototype of such a system on the Volvo SCC safety concept car in April 2001.’
     • ‘It was the first Chrysler concept vehicle to explore the new look.’
     • ‘Throughout most of the 1990s, Chrysler's concept vehicles got most of the buzz.’
     • ‘And it is those concept cars that are supposed to excite and enthuse the car-buying public.’
     • ‘It is the same process automakers use when unveiling concept vehicles.’
     • ‘The Tokyo Motor Show is not the antic sideshow of wacky and improbable concept vehicles it once was.’
     • ‘A few years back, there was a tiny overflow of concept cars outside the Convention Center.’
     • ‘For a number of years, composites have been a popular material for concept cars.’
  4. 1.4Philosophy An idea or mental image which corresponds to some distinct entity or class of entities, or to its essential features, or determines the application of a term (especially a predicate), and thus plays a part in the use of reason or language.
     ‘Society's use of a term partly determines the concepts of individuals in the society, even of such medically ignorant individuals as Bert.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘The content of the dispositional concept thus presupposes the virtual-color concept.’
     • ‘It is essential to the concept of belief that there should be differences of opinion, so that we attribute false as well as true beliefs.’
     • ‘The application of the concept following a rule presupposes a custom.’
     • ‘A strict ideational theory requires that all the criterial beliefs be satisfied in the correct application of the concept.’