fixed idea
Immovable mental anchor
A fixed idea is a persistent belief or obsession that dominates someone's thinking and resists change despite evidence or argument.
The term often carries clinical overtones, suggesting something pathological: His innocence became a fixed idea that consumed her.
More loosely, any notion someone won't let go of: She has a fixed idea about how children should be raised.
- monomaniaFixation on single idea
- one-track mindSingular mental focus
- perseverationInvoluntary repetition of responses
- mindsetEstablished mental attitude
- obsessionPersistent, intrusive preoccupation
bee in one's bonnet · conviction · tunnel vision · preconception · blind spot · rumination · stuck record · single-mindedness · delusion · fanaticism · hobbyhorse · close-mindedness · dogma · cognitive bias · obstinacy · belief · absolutism · preoccupation
- closed-mindednessclosed-mindedness, close-mindedness, narrow-mindedness, inflexibility, rigidity
- snap judgmentssnap judgment, snap decision, hasty conclusion, rush to judgment, jumping to conclusions