blue-sky
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Without immediate commercial value or practical application: Used to describe research, thinking, or ideas that are theoretical, speculative, or focused on long-term innovation without concern for current marketability or profitability.
- Relating to pure or unrestricted thinking: Often describes creative or intellectual exploration that is not limited by practical constraints or immediate goals.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- The company's blue-sky research division focuses on fundamental science, not product development.
- We need some blue-sky thinking to solve this long-term problem.
- The proposal was dismissed as a blue-sky idea with no foreseeable application.
Advanced Usage
- "blue-sky research": Fundamental or pure research conducted for the advancement of knowledge without a specific commercial goal.
- Government grants often fund blue-sky research in universities.
- "blue-sky thinking": A brainstorming approach that encourages free, creative, and unrestricted ideas without considering practical limitations.
- The workshop was designed to promote blue-sky thinking about the future of transportation.
Variants and Related Words
- Blue-sky laws (noun, plural): A specific, unrelated term in U.S. finance referring to state regulations designed to protect investors from securities fraud. (Note: This is a distinct compound term and not a variant of the adjective 'blue-sky').
- The investment was scrutinized under blue-sky laws.
Synonyms
- Theoretical: Concerned with or involving the theory of a subject rather than its practical application.
- Speculative: Engaged in, expressing, or based on conjecture rather than knowledge.
- Pure research: Research carried out to increase knowledge, not to solve a specific practical problem.
Antonyms
- Applied: (Of research) directed toward practical application.
- Commercial: Concerned with or engaged in commerce, with an emphasis on profitability.
- Pragmatic: Dealing with things sensibly and realistically based on practical considerations.
Adjective
- without immediate commercial value
- the company cannot afford to do blue-sky research