idée fixe

Definitions

1. Alternative spelling of idée fixe.
   alt-of, alternative
2. An idea dominating the mind and maintained despite evidence to the contrary; (loosely), an obsession.
3. A recurring musical theme; a leitmotif.

Equivalents

Examples

““There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have⟳ called the ‘idée fixe,’ which may be trifling in character, and accompanied by complete⟳ sanity in every other way. A man who had read⟳ deeply about Napoleon, or who had possibly received some hereditary family injury through the great war, might conceivably form⟳ such an ‘idée fixe’ and under its influence⟳ be capable of any fantastic outrage.””

“[“]A foreign policy of domination through spiritual means is [Jorane Sutt’s] idée fixe, but it’s my notion that his ultimate aims aren’t spiritual.[”]”

“The sage's solitary fantisizings about the heavens have⟳ turned monstrous, his yearnings for knowledge have⟳ swollen into idées fixes”

“His conclusion though is illuminating, and established a theme that was to concern⟳ him for the next forty years of his life, becoming the idée fixe of works such as The Ghost in the Machine, The Act of Creation and the Roots of Coincidence.”

“a definite musical figure⟳, called the 'idée fixe,' unifying the work⟳ throughout by its constant reappearance in various aspects and surroundings”

CEFR level