as in theoretical
dealing with or expressing a quality or idea
ideograms are ideational—they are meant to suggest some general idea and not a particular word or phrase
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Recent Examples of ideational
The ideational content of the image — a man killing another man on a public sidewalk — is only half the message.
—
F.k. Plous, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
This process, which Doten-Snitker and her coauthors term ideational diffusion, often took many years as people in towns and cities needed time to digest new ideas about witchcraft and turn them into behavior.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2024
The ideational content of the image — a man killing another man on a public sidewalk — is only half the message.
—F.k. Plous, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
The United States, of course, cannot share everything—physical or ideational—with its partners.
—Thomas G. Mahnken, Foreign Affairs, 5 June 2024
This ideational convergence, deepened by two decades of accumulating trust between India and the United States, has enhanced the strategic partnership and set the stage for even closer cooperation in the future.
—Ashley J. Tellis, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2020
Steven Spielberg extends Griffith’s and Ford’s historical insight through an astonishing mix of visual and ideational dialectics.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 June 2023
Einstein’s theories as ideational relativism.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 3 May 2021
And the Trump Administration is taking concrete steps to encourage this ideational fusion.
—Time, 13 Dec. 2019
F.k. Plous, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
This process, which Doten-Snitker and her coauthors term ideational diffusion, often took many years as people in towns and cities needed time to digest new ideas about witchcraft and turn them into behavior.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 8 Oct. 2024
The ideational content of the image — a man killing another man on a public sidewalk — is only half the message.
—F.k. Plous, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025
The United States, of course, cannot share everything—physical or ideational—with its partners.
—Thomas G. Mahnken, Foreign Affairs, 5 June 2024
This ideational convergence, deepened by two decades of accumulating trust between India and the United States, has enhanced the strategic partnership and set the stage for even closer cooperation in the future.
—Ashley J. Tellis, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2020
Steven Spielberg extends Griffith’s and Ford’s historical insight through an astonishing mix of visual and ideational dialectics.
—Armond White, National Review, 28 June 2023
Einstein’s theories as ideational relativism.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 3 May 2021
And the Trump Administration is taking concrete steps to encourage this ideational fusion.
—Time, 13 Dec. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ideational
Adjective
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But to sacrifice Negan to The Dama in theoretical perpetuity?—
Charlie Mason,
TVLine,
5 May 2025
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And none of us could have imagined that our theoretical models would fit the data so well.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
3 May 2025
Adjective
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Photo: Alfama Films No one writes dialogue like Cronenberg — perplexing alien dialogue, a sci-fi tongue of oddball terminology and metaphysical shop talk.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2025
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Owning pets is also a metaphysical threat to the fabric of reality, even for straights.—
Samantha Riedel,
Them.,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Solomon bravely represented conceptual artists such as Paik and Gordon Matta-Clark, and artists from the Arte Povera, and the Pattern and Decoration movements.—
Tom Teicholz,
Forbes.com,
7 May 2025
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Surreal, beautiful, and then truly shocking, this is a classic conceptual A24 horror, with all the hallucinatory imagery, and head-spinning, hairpin bends that entails.—
Radhika Seth,
Vogue,
7 May 2025
Adjective
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Wingard’s sequel is a bit more abstract than its predecessor, focusing too much on strange world-building and too little on the battle between our two beloved heavies.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
8 May 2025
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The channel features an abstract logo with Letterman’s signature beard and glasses.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
6 May 2025
Adjective
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This definition also includes instance in which the victim is incapable of giving consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (include due to the influence of drugs or alcohol) or because of age.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
11 Apr. 2025
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Without supervision or regulation, kids can easily stumble upon explicit material, including violent and extremist content, that can lead to mental distress, desensitization and a warped perception of the world around them.—
Richard Wistocki,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The Colombian painter and intellectual (1919-2003) was born in Bogotá and lived in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Jerusalem, Washington, and Rome before settling in Paris, discovering nature within global cities.—
Natasha Gural,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
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Suppose the differences between these two cooks were repeated in many domains of intellectual labor.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ideational.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ideational. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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