suggestion
/səˈdʒɛstʃ(ə)n
/noun
1An idea or plan put forward for consideration: here are some suggestions for tackling the problem...
- She found this project exciting to work on because the owner was very open to new ideas and suggestions for his premises.
- I have some suggestions for serious consideration by the august committee.
- The group will meet again in September and are looking forward to suggestions for the development of the field.
Synonyms
proposal, proposition, motion, submission, recommendation;
advice, counsel, exhortation, hint, tip, clue, tip-off, idea, piece of advice
1.1 [mass noun] The action of suggesting something: at my suggestion, the museum held an exhibition of his work...
- At their suggestion I sent a complaint there and was rewarded with an anodyne standard letter which was obviously sent out to all complainants but which dealt with none of the points I raised.
- I am also rather annoyed at his suggestion that the RAF does nothing about reducing the noise when in fact they make strenuous efforts to keep noise to a minimum as do most responsible aviation bodies.
- At her suggestion, I'm to not spend anymore than 20 minutes at a time on my feet and I should be taking 20 minute breaks in-between walking around.
2Something that implies or indicates a certain fact or situation: there is no suggestion that he was involved in any wrongdoing...
- There were suggestions that in fact a confession video was made before the act itself.
- For you to even make such a suggestion strongly implies that you're really not interested in a serious debate on this issue.
- There was a suggestion that the very fact the trial was held in Mayo guaranteed that the defendant would not be found guilty of murder.
Synonyms
insinuation, hint, implication, intimation, innuendo, imputation
2.1A slight indication of something: there was a suggestion of a smile on his lips...
- It even comes with a hefty chunk of lemon, in addition to the salt and vinegar [which was disappointingly run of the mill, with not the slightest suggestion of rose Perry vinegar or Caspian salt flakes].
- She's always on the edge of her chair, ready to pounce at the slightest suggestion of a whisper.
- Be advised they'll also be in no mood to tolerate even the slightest suggestion of possessiveness.
Synonyms
hint, trace, touch, suspicion, tinge, modicum, dash, soupçon;
ghost, semblance, shadow, glimmer, impression, breath, whiff, undertone, whisper, nuance, undertone, connotation
3 [mass noun] The action of calling up an idea in someone’s mind by associating it with other things: the power of suggestion...
- Furthermore, it is possible to create false memories in people's minds by suggestion, even false memories of previous lives.
- However, our study does reveal many interesting psychological factors associated with experimenter suggestion.
- Individuals so conditioned can merely repeat the thoughts which have been implanted in their minds by suggestion from outside.
3.1 Psychology The action of influencing a person to accept an idea or belief uncritically, especially as a technique in hypnosis.Techniques of suggestion are compatible neither with the analytic attitude that Symington describes nor the therapeutic attitude that Cervantes describes....
- Neuroscience has not fully exploited hypnosis and hypnotic suggestion as experimental tools.
- Freud usually claimed that psychoanalysis was a treatment in which direct influence and suggestion played little part.
3.2 [count noun] Psychology An idea or belief accepted by a person as a result of suggestion.These are simply positive suggestions the writer gives to herself while in hypnosis....
- But he did not use hypnosis solely as a means of implanting suggestions of positive health.
- Under hypnosis, the rational brain is bypassed, and suggestions are made directly to the subconscious mind.
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'an incitement to evil'): via Old French from Latin suggestio(n-), from the verb suggerere (see suggest).
Suggestion entered English as ‘an incitement to evil’, but the use soon became generalized to ‘proposal, thought put forward’. The word came from Latin suggerere ‘suggest, prompt’, the source, too, of early 16th-century suggest.