noun

• 1An abstract idea; a general notion.

  ‘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; a conception.
     ‘the center 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 new 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 picture of a group or class of objects formed by combining all their aspects.
     ‘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.’