Synonyms of ideals

ideals

noun

plural of ideal

1

as in ideas

someone of such unequaled perfection as to deserve imitation

she's our ideal of the concerned, caring physician

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ideas
• models
• examples
• incarnations
• manifestations
• patron saints
• pinnacles
• paragons
• exemplars
• classics
• standards
• nonpareils
• principles
• beau ideals
• paradigms
• mirrors
• essences
• eidolons
• nonesuches
• guidelines
• phantoms
• role models
• personifications
• pinks
• archetypes
• touchstones
• rules
• embodiments
• epitomes
• culminations
• summits
• patterns
• zeniths
• gauges
• apexes
• peaks
• apotheoses
• acmes
• quintessences

2

as in perfections

the most perfect type or example

the Taj Mahal in India is generally regarded as the ideal of Mogul architectural beauty

Synonyms & Similar Words

• perfections
• classics
• manifestations
• models
• standards
• incarnations
• exemplars
• paradigms
• bywords
• epitomes
• beau ideals
• prototypes
• heights
• apotheoses
• zeniths
• acmes
• avatars
• archetypes
• benchmarks
• quintessences
• ultimates
• criteria
• incorporations
• paragons
• personifications
• abstracts
• touchstones
• last words
• meridians
• embodiments
• nonpareils
• yardsticks
• embodiers

3

as in goals

something that one hopes or intends to accomplish

his ideal is to make enough money so that he can retire at 50

Synonyms & Similar Words

• goals
• purposes
• plans
• ideas
• intentions
• objectives
• aims
• ambitions
• intents
• dreams
• objects
• aspirations
• things
• meanings
• pretensions
• designs
• targets
• points
• ends
• hopes
• projects
• desires
• marks
• wishes
• bournes
• minds
• schemes
• plots
• destinations
• holy grails
• grails
• nirvanas
• termini

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• methods
• means
• ways

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of ideals

The ongoing spat with the US has resonated with swing voters who lean right and embrace nationalist ideals. — Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2026

Journalist Reitman connects lives of nine Americans over three decades, vividly showing how ideals can give way to fear. — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026

Sorkin, whether as a writer or a writer-director, is known for his razor-sharp, rapid-fire dialogue and his examination of social and political ideals. — Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026

The decision by crypto’s current generation of leaders to trade in these ideals for swamp-style politics can, therefore, be seen as a deep betrayal. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2026

Like many of the homes throughout Virginia, Birdwood Mansion was built according to Jeffersonian architectural and design ideals, with symmetrical details like an entrance portico, Doric columns, and impressive brickwork. — Heather Bien, Southern Living, 26 Sep. 2026

The portrait seems to place her on a stage, where she is expected to embody beauty ideals, social expectations, and conventions of the elite society of her time. — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 25 Sep. 2026

This mythologizing of a masculine, European (though crucially not British) version of Columbus supported burgeoning American ideals of Manifest Destiny (the idea that the United States was preordained to expand to the Pacific Ocean and beyond). — Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2026

These unspool in the form of action scenes where the stakes aren’t just personal safety, but the larger ideals of a nation under political suppression. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026