intention
What you mean
Intention is what you mean to do—a purpose or aim held in mind before acting.
Her intention was to apologize.
Intentions often contrast with outcomes: I had good intentions, but it went badly.
The phrase with intention suggests deliberateness rather than accident.
In legal contexts, intention distinguishes premeditated acts from negligent or accidental ones.
Firmness of purpose
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
- dedicationWholehearted loyalty to purpose
- willpowerMental strength resisting impulse
- driveOperate a vehicle
discipline · volition · choice · decision · firmness · steadfastness · tenacity · persistence
Purpose or direction
- objectivePurpose or goal
- goalDesired end result
- reasonBasis or justification
- motivationImpetus toward a goal
rationale · justification · cause · end · function · meaning · significance · point
Purposeful action quality
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
- directednessState of having aim
- phenomenologyStudy of subjective experience
- agencyPower to act
free will · autonomy · causation · teleology · volition · purposiveness
Planning before acting
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- calculationMathematical problem-solving process
- aforethoughtPrior deliberate intention
- maliceIntent to cause harm
premeditation · planning · scheming · plotting · foresight · anticipation · contrivance · orchestration
resolve
Firmness of purpose
- commitmentFirm pledge to act
- dedicationWholehearted loyalty to purpose
- willpowerMental strength resisting impulse
drive · discipline · volition · choice · decision · firmness · steadfastness · tenacity · persistence · single-mindedness
aim
Purpose or direction
motivation · rationale · justification · cause · end · function · meaning · significance · point · direction
intentionality
Purposeful action quality
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
- directednessState of having aim
- phenomenologyStudy of subjective experience
agency · free will · autonomy · causation · teleology · volition · purposiveness
forethought
Planning before acting
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- calculationMathematical problem-solving process
- aforethoughtPrior deliberate intention
malice · premeditation · planning · scheming · plotting · foresight · anticipation · contrivance · orchestration · design
ambition
Desire for achievement
desire · aspiration · yearning · longing · vision · ideal · striving · pursuit · quest · endeavor
- cognitionthinking, reasoning, thought, cognition, remembering
- desireswant, wish, desire, wanting, yearning
- meditationbreathing meditation, breath, breath meditation, mantra, breathing
- motivesmotive, purpose, goal, aim, objective
- Islamic practicessalah, salat, hajj, zakat, five pillars
- agencyfree will, choice, autonomy, volition, self-determination
intentionaccident
Unintended harmful event
chance · happenstance · coincidence · luck · fortune
intentionpurposelessness
State of lacking intention
aimlessness · directionlessness · pointlessness · meaninglessness · randomness
intentionfate
Predetermined course of events
destiny · fortune · providence · necessity · compulsion
- best intentions
- bad intentions
- intentional delayPlanned holdup of action
- intentional omissionPurposely leaving something out
- intentional foulPurposeful rule violation
- intentional walkPurposeful free pass
intentional, unintentional, intentions, unintentionally, intentioned