as in theory
an attitude, belief, or impression formed in advance of actual experience of something
tried to go into the training sessions without any preconceptions
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Recent Examples of preconception
On the slopes, long-standing ethnic and religious divides are briefly set aside, with rivals cheering one another on despite their fraught history and preconceptions.
—
Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025
Despite McGuire acquiescing to reader’s preconceptions of the witch, the mysterious flying broom was not a central item in Elphaba’s initial rejection of the Wizard’s autocratic reign.
—Time, 21 Nov. 2025
Like the partisan preconceptions surrounding Benioff and his New York Times interview, the faulty assumptions about Salesforce’s future performance are missing the bigger picture.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
In other words, anyone open-minded enough to set aside popular preconceptions about the genre really can find their perfect match.
—Karen Ostergren, The Atlantic, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for preconception
Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025
Despite McGuire acquiescing to reader’s preconceptions of the witch, the mysterious flying broom was not a central item in Elphaba’s initial rejection of the Wizard’s autocratic reign.
—Time, 21 Nov. 2025
Like the partisan preconceptions surrounding Benioff and his New York Times interview, the faulty assumptions about Salesforce’s future performance are missing the bigger picture.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2025
In other words, anyone open-minded enough to set aside popular preconceptions about the genre really can find their perfect match.
—Karen Ostergren, The Atlantic, 13 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for preconception
Recent Examples of Synonyms for preconception
Noun
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Such theories were met with some skepticism by trade researchers at the time, and not all of the predictions have come true.—
Josh Ederington,
Fortune,
8 Feb. 2026
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As the search continues with no suspects or persons of interest, posts across Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook and YouTube have put millions of eyeballs on tips and theories surrounding her disappearance.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Some facts could begin to emerge around a situation that was mired in assumptions or unknown elements.—
Magi Helena,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Feb. 2026
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The team’s findings challenge long-standing assumptions about how vibrational images represent atomic motion, and offer a more accurate way to interpret data from high-resolution spectroscopic tools.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Preconception.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/preconception. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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