- perfect; most suitable
- an ideal location/place
- ideal for somebody/something This beach is ideal for children.
- She's the ideal candidate for the job.
- The trip to Paris will be an ideal opportunity to practise my French.
- The prime minister admitted the current situation was ‘not ideal’ (= was bad).
- It was not the ideal solution to the problem.
- Harvesting is being done in less than ideal conditions.
Extra Examples- The hotel's size makes it ideal for large conferences.
- The houses are absolutely ideal for families with young children.
- As a solution to the problem it was far from ideal.
- His apartment would be an ideal place to stay.
- This job would be absolutely ideal for someone with an interest in local history.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- look
- prove
- …
- absolutely
- almost
- nearly
- …
- for
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- [only before noun] existing only in your imagination or as an idea; not likely to be real
- the search for ideal love
Word Originlate Middle English (as a term in Platonic philosophy, in the sense ‘existing as an archetype’): from late Latin idealis, via Latin from Greek idea ‘form, pattern’, from the base of idein ‘to see’.
Idioms
See ideal in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee ideal in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishin an ideal/a perfect world
- used to say that something is what you would like to happen or what should happen, but you know it cannot
- In an ideal world we would be recycling and reusing everything.
Extra Examples- In a perfect world no one would need to pay for healthcare.
- In an ideal world, I'd like to work just three days a week.
Check pronunciation:
ideal