Definition of: ideal

(ī·dē′əl, ī·dēl′) adjective
1. Pertaining to or existing in ideas; conceptional.
2. Of or pertaining to an ideal or perfection.
3. Conceived as perfect, supremely excellent, or very desirable.
4. Existing only in imagination or notion; of such perfection as to be practically unattainable.
5. In philosophy, existing as an archetypal idea or pattern.
—noun
1. That which is taken as a standard of excellence or beauty; an ultimate object of attainment; model; type.
2. That which exists only in imagination. [<L idealis] Synonyms (adj.): fancied, fanciful, imaginary, unreal, visionary. Compare IMAGINARY, ROMANTIC. See also PERFECT. Antonyms: actual, material, palpable, physical, real, substantial, tangible, visible. Synonyms (noun): archetype, idea, model, original, pattern, prototype, standard. An ideal is that which is conceived or taken as the highest type of excellence or ultimate object of attainment. The archetype is the primal form, actual or imaginary, according to which any existing thing is constructed; the prototype has or has had actual existence; in the derived sense, as in metrology, a prototype may not be the original form, but one having equal authority with that as a standard. An ideal may be primal, or may be slowly developed even from failures and by negations; an ideal is meant to be perfect, the best conceivable thing that could by possibility be attained. The artist's ideal is his own mental image, of which his finished work is but an imperfect expression. The original is the first specimen, good or bad; the original of a master is superior to all copies. The standard may be below the ideal. The ideal is ordinarily unattainable; the standard is concrete, and ordinarily attainable, being a measure to which all else of its kind must conform; as, the standard of weights and measures, of corn, or of cotton. The idea of virtue is the mental concept or image of virtue in general: the ideal of virtue is the mental concept or image of virtue in its highest conceivable perfection. Compare EXAMPLE, IDEA. Antonyms: accomplishment, achievement, act, action, attainment, development, doing, embodiment, execution, fact, incarnation, performance, practice, reality, realization.