imagery

[ im-ij-ree, im-i-juh-ree ]

noun

, plural im·age·ries.

1. the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively:

   the dim imagery of a dream.

2. pictorial images, as in works of art.
3. the use of rhetorical images.
4. figurative description or illustration; rhetorical images collectively.
5. Psychology. mental images collectively, especially those produced by the action of imagination.

imagery

/ ˈɪmɪdʒrɪ; -dʒərɪ /

noun

1. figurative or descriptive language in a literary work
2. images collectively
3. psychol
   1. the materials or general processes of the imagination
   2. the characteristic kind of mental images formed by a particular individual See also image imagination
4. military the presentation of objects reproduced photographically (by infrared or electronic means) as prints or electronic displays

imagery

1. The mental pictures created by a piece of writing: “The imagery of “The Waste Land” — crumbling towers, dried-up wells, toppled tombstones — conveys the author's sense of a civilization in decay.”

Other Words From

• im·a·ge·ri·al [im-, uh, -, jeer, -ee-, uh, l], adjective
• ima·geri·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of imagery¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English imagerie, from Old French, equivalent to image + -ery

Example Sentences

“You can’t divorce the scale of the imagery from what you might want to do with it,” the Edge adds.

From Los Angeles Times

HRW’s report - based on interviews with displaced Palestinians, analysis of Israeli evacuation orders, satellite imagery showing destruction of buildings, and videos and photos of strikes - concludes that there is no plausible imperative military reason to justify the displacement of nearly all of Gaza’s population and that the other conditions for it be lawful have also not been met.

From BBC

He has a similar aw-shucks, genial manner — easy to laugh and quick to offer a cup of tea — that belies the strange hive of imagery buzzing inside his head.

From Los Angeles Times

The horror film imagery at the end is held by Lloyd for an ungodly long time.

From Los Angeles Times

They then gathered other clues, including satellite imagery and photographs of the fjord that were taken by the Danish Navy just before the signal appeared.

From BBC

Related Words

• symbolism