idée fixe

noun

(ˌ)ē-ˌdā-ˈfēks How to pronounce idée fixe (audio)
Definition of idée fixenext
as in obsession
something about which one is constantly thinking or concerned had this bizarre idée fixe that people were spying on her with electromagnetic waves

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of idée fixe This is perhaps why their partnership remains an idee fixe so many decades later. — Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idée fixe
  1. obsession
  2. fetish
  3. fixation
Noun
  • The scourge of modern club football is the obsession with pressing.
    — Michael Cox, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • Pants are something of an anxiety-inducing fashion world obsession.
    — Christian Allaire, Vogue, 21 July 2026
Definition of obsession
Noun
  • Tupper’s Mick, at the mercy of his brittle fetishes, may be the most believable of this quartet.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026
  • The screen is big, the image is sharp and bright, but Nolan’s visual compositions are dull—just pictures of actors acting, without style or poetry—and his fetish for size is just bombast and vanity.
    — Caroline Mimbs Nyce, New Yorker, 17 July 2026
Definition of fetish
Noun
  • Trump’s fixation on false claims about the 2020 election made Thursday night’s address a fraught event for every organization in the business of live news coverage.
    — Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • Federal authorities haven’t singled out any veggies yet, though acting Food and Drug Administration director Don Prater acknowledged Michigan’s fixation on lettuce.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 15 July 2026
Definition of fixation

Browse Nearby Words

ideational
idée fixe
idées fixes
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Cite this Entry

“Idée fixe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/id%C3%A9e%20fixe. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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