conception

1 an idea or statement about all of the members of a group or all the instances of a situation the false conception that wheelchair users are homebound and helpless Synonyms concept, generalization, generality, notion, stereotypeRelated Words bromide, cliché (also cliche), commonplace, platitude, truism; adage, proverb, saw, saying; hypothesis, proposition, theory; oversimplification, simplification, simplism

2 something imagined or pictured in the mind our changing conceptions of what constitutes art Synonyms abstraction, cogitation, concept, idea, image, impression, intellection, mind's eye, notion, picture, thoughtRelated Words apprehension, premonition, presentiment; preconception, prejudice, prepossession; chimera, delusion, hallucination, illusion, phantasm (also fantasm); caprice, conceit, fancy, freak, kink, vagary, whim; cognition, observation, perception, reflection; assumption, belief, conclusion, conviction; conjecture, guess, hunch, hypothesis, speculation, supposition, surmise, theory; brainchild, brainstorm, brain wave, inspirationNear Antonyms actuality, fact, reality