paradigm

/ˌpɛrəˈdaɪm/

/ˈpærədaɪm/

Other forms: paradigms

A paradigm is a standard, perspective, or set of ideas. A paradigm is a way of looking at something.

The word paradigm comes up a lot in the academic, scientific, and business worlds. A new paradigm in business could mean a new way of reaching customers and making money. In education, relying on lectures is a paradigm: if you suddenly shifted to all group work, that would be a new paradigm. When you change paradigms, you're changing how you think about something.

Definitions of paradigm

1. noun

   a standard or typical example
   synonyms: epitome, image, prototype

   types:

   concentrate

   a concentrated example of something

   imago

   (psychoanalysis) an idealized image of someone (usually a parent) formed in childhood

   type of:

   example, model

   a representative form or pattern
2. noun

   the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time
   “he framed the problem within the psychoanalytic paradigm”

   type of:

   perspective, position, view

   a way of regarding situations or topics etc.
3. noun

   systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
   type of:

   inflection, inflexion

   a change in the form of a word (usually by adding a suffix) to indicate a change in its grammatical function
4. noun

   the class of all items that can be substituted into the same position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in paradigmatic relation with one another)
   synonyms: substitution class

   type of:

   category, class, family

   a collection of things sharing a common attribute