1
as in model
someone of such unequaled perfection as to deserve imitation
she is the beau ideal of the dedicated medical professional
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2
as in ideal
the most perfect type or example
Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous architectural creation, Falling Water, is widely regarded as the beau ideal of a building in harmony with its setting
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of beau ideal
The beau ideal of illiberal democracy is, of course, Viktor Orbán of Hungary, who outlined the term in a 2014 speech.
—
Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 31 Jan. 2024
Fieg is its beau ideal.
—Kareem Rashed, Robb Report, 26 Feb. 2022
At Délice & Sarrasin, a charming French bistro in the West Village, vegans can bide their time in style, enticing new recruits with the beau ideal of meatless haute cuisine.
—David Kortava, The New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2021
If Hicks is the beau ideal in today’s MLB, then Miles Mikolas is a throwback to the Roosevelt administration.
—Michael Beller, SI.com, 23 May 2018
Conservatives like to imagine Reagan as the beau ideal of a president who faithfully adhered to their principles, but Trump is the president who has actually done it.
—Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 23 Feb. 2018
There was a time when the beau ideal was to drive your sports car to the track, paint numbers on it, go racing and then drive home.
—Dan Neil, WSJ, 6 July 2017
If Teddy Roosevelt was the Harvard beau ideal at the turn of the last century, Mark Zuckerberg is the Harvard man to be in the new millennium.
—William Stadiem, Town & Country, 2 Aug. 2016
Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 31 Jan. 2024
Fieg is its beau ideal.
—Kareem Rashed, Robb Report, 26 Feb. 2022
At Délice & Sarrasin, a charming French bistro in the West Village, vegans can bide their time in style, enticing new recruits with the beau ideal of meatless haute cuisine.
—David Kortava, The New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2021
If Hicks is the beau ideal in today’s MLB, then Miles Mikolas is a throwback to the Roosevelt administration.
—Michael Beller, SI.com, 23 May 2018
Conservatives like to imagine Reagan as the beau ideal of a president who faithfully adhered to their principles, but Trump is the president who has actually done it.
—Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, 23 Feb. 2018
There was a time when the beau ideal was to drive your sports car to the track, paint numbers on it, go racing and then drive home.
—Dan Neil, WSJ, 6 July 2017
If Teddy Roosevelt was the Harvard beau ideal at the turn of the last century, Mark Zuckerberg is the Harvard man to be in the new millennium.
—William Stadiem, Town & Country, 2 Aug. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for beau ideal
Noun
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With the deployment of models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT models, Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot, DeepSeek’s R and V series models, Anthropic’s Claude, Perplexity AI and countless others, the vast majority of AI processing across the industry is already inference processing.—
Jim McGregor,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
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The 48 megapixel camera in the premium models houses a telephoto lens with 1x, 2x, 4x and 8× optical zoom and 8K recording capabilities.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Luxe Leather In buttery-soft leather, the funnel-jacket achieves its platonic ideal.—
Andrea Zendejas,
Vogue,
16 Sep. 2025
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These are not abstract ideals but practical blueprints for building more just, democratic, and equitable societies.—
Mbongiseni Buthelezi,
Time,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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As a public institution, UVU upholds First Amendment rights and fosters an environment where ideas – popular or controversial – can be exchanged freely, energetically, and civilly.—
Bill Hutchinson,
ABC News,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Some ideas came from experience.—
Sophie Carson,
jsonline.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Oscilloscope’s roots in New York’s music and film scenes run deep and that quirky green logo has been the opening act for so many of our favorite indie classics of the past decade and a half or so.—
Brent Lang,
Variety,
16 Sep. 2025
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Over the decades, the Sundance Film festival morphed from a classics and good-for-you granola film showcase to a vital hub in indie distribution, serving as a gatekeeper and exhibition platform for filmmakers and a farm system for emerging talent heading for Hollywood.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Aside from Carnival, every locality on the island has its own festa dedicated to the patron saint of the town.—
AFAR Media,
AFAR Media,
28 Aug. 2025
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Meanwhile, winding alleys lead past plaques of Saint Catalina Thomàs—Mallorca’s patron saint—born in the village in 1533.—
Lewis Nunn,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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This shifted my focus from visual perfection to cognitive predictability—prioritizing clarity, affordance and immediate feedback over novelty.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Still, Jones ran it to near perfection, spreading the ball around to Bourne, Jauan Jennings, Christian McCaffrey and Jake Tonges before hitting McCaffrey on a 7-yard score in the right side of the end zone.—
Matt Barrows,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Casting black actors as Anglo-Saxon nobles is only the most in-your-face example of this problem.—
Will Collins,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
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For example, blood flukes in sea turtles can lead to range of inflammatory reactions in their vascular system severe enough to strand or kill them.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And, of course, Sundance is a manifestation of that.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
16 Sep. 2025
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Sabrina Carpenter is manifestation’s best friend.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Beau ideal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beau%20ideal. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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