Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having one overriding purpose or goal.
  • adjective Steadfast; resolute.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having a single or honest mind or heart; free from duplicity; ingenuous; guileless.
  • Having but one object or end in view; unswerving; undeviating.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having a single purpose; concentrating on a single goal; hence, artless; guileless; single-hearted.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Intensely focused and concentrated on purpose, thinking of only one goal, undistractable.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective determined

Etymologies

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Examples

  • An accomplished pianist, he was described as a "single-minded" young man who had been shaken by the disappearance of his father, a doctor, during his childhood.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • An accomplished pianist, he was described as a "single-minded" young man who had been shaken by the disappearance of his father, a doctor, during his childhood.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • An accomplished pianist, he was described as a "single-minded" young man who had been shaken by the disappearance of his father, a doctor, during his childhood.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • It represents a potential distraction, although any side capable of winning 13 games on the trot with a home ground as lacking in atmosphere as Vicarage Road can be described as single-minded.

    Leicester 18-22 Saracens | Premiership final match report 2011

  • A born again Christian with a single-minded opposition to gay marriage, Bachmann was invited by Pastor Hammond to “share her testimony” at three services held just two weeks before election day, and her appearance was advertised at Living Word for weeks in advance.

    American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010

  • The National Energy Act of 1978, which Carter pushed through Congress with single-minded intensity, tripled federal funding for solar energy research, created loans and tax credits for homeowners to insulate their homes and install renewable-energy heating and cooling systems, set national efficiency standards for electrical appliances, provided $100 million for schools, hospitals, and local governments to install energy-conservation technology, and imposed a gas-guzzler tax on inefficient vehicles to encourage gasoline conservation.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • The National Energy Act of 1978, which Carter pushed through Congress with single-minded intensity, tripled federal funding for solar energy research, created loans and tax credits for homeowners to insulate their homes and install renewable-energy heating and cooling systems, set national efficiency standards for electrical appliances, provided $100 million for schools, hospitals, and local governments to install energy-conservation technology, and imposed a gas-guzzler tax on inefficient vehicles to encourage gasoline conservation.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • The National Energy Act of 1978, which Carter pushed through Congress with single-minded intensity, tripled federal funding for solar energy research, created loans and tax credits for homeowners to insulate their homes and install renewable-energy heating and cooling systems, set national efficiency standards for electrical appliances, provided $100 million for schools, hospitals, and local governments to install energy-conservation technology, and imposed a gas-guzzler tax on inefficient vehicles to encourage gasoline conservation.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • Oh, one place they might cut is their annual gifts to PACs and single-minded business lobbies.

    The Wall Street rants, and gets it wrong (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009

  • Told in alternating narratives (with a helpful opening guide to how many different names both women are known by), Bunny ("Faith") Crumpacker tells the story of an unhappy marriage followed by betrayal, a pregnancy of uncertain paternity and the near-numb yet single-minded decision to give up her baby.

    Nancy Doyle Palmer: Jessica Lost: Adoption and Identity in Modern Times Nancy Doyle Palmer 2011

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