Meaning & use
being objective
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Meanings
phrase
the state or practice of basing opinions and judgments on facts rather than personal feelings or biases.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase: 'Being objective is important in science.' It can also follow prepositions: 'about being objective'.
Patterns
- being objective about something
- being objective in a situation
- being objective toward someone
Being objective means looking at all the evidence before making a decision.
In journalism, being objective is considered a key professional standard.
She struggled with being objective about her own son's performance.
phraseapproving
the quality of not letting personal opinions or emotions influence one's judgment.
Grammar: Often used after verbs like 'try' or 'need': 'You need to try being objective.'
Patterns
- being objective about something
- try to be objective
The judge praised the reporter for being objective throughout the trial.
It's hard to be objective when you're personally involved.
Common combinations
- being objective about
- Being objective about your own work is difficult.
- try to be objective
- Try to be objective and consider both sides.
- remain objective
- A good scientist must remain objective at all times.
- objective analysis
- The report provides an objective analysis of the data.
Synonyms and how they differ
- impartial
- Impartial means not favoring one side over another, often in a dispute; objective focuses more on basing judgments on facts.
- unbiased
- Unbiased means without prejudice or favoritism; objective emphasizes using facts rather than feelings.
- neutral
- Neutral means not supporting either side; objective is about being fact-based, which may still lead to a clear conclusion.
Opposites
Word family
- objective adjective
- Based on facts, not personal feelings.
- objectively adverb
- In a way that is based on facts, not feelings.
- objectivity noun
- The quality of being objective.
Commonly confused: being objective or objective vs. subjective?
being objective vs objective vs. subjective
Objective means based on facts; subjective means based on personal feelings. They are opposites.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The preposition 'about' is used with 'objective' when referring to a topic or issue. 'For', 'with', and 'on' do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “being objective”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.