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

/ -dʒərɪ; ˈɪmɪdʒrɪ /

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

The company is also obscuring “disturbing imagery” related to the shooting, as is its policy for all graphic images.

From Fortune

Zitnick said that while the software learns some general information on how to generate MRI data, for accurate results it needs to be trained on imagery of one specific body part only.

From Fortune

A computer model she built now can predict crop yields based on that imagery.

From Science News For Students

Lillian created a computer program that gleans information from satellite imagery to estimate the health of crops.

From Science News For Students

To take things a step further, you can even combine patriotic imagery with products that are currently in demand and create new items.

From Search Engine Watch

As fluent in drug trade jargon as Martian, Future peppers his lyrics with interstellar imagery befitting of his far out vocals.

From The Daily Beast

For such songs, she pairs raunchy lyrics with vivid imagery.

From The Daily Beast

But trying to generate buzz for her single through appropriating Nazi propaganda imagery is not one of them.

From The Daily Beast

In the decade following World War I, Hopper settled on a vein of imagery that has been his special glory ever since.

From The Daily Beast

Worse, she obsesses over this with all of the friends and then tries to incorporate shark imagery into their sex life.

From The Daily Beast

Sensible people, who delight in exact imagery, of course, are led away by comparisons and metaphors.

From Project Gutenberg

The more it has been made the subject of illustration and imagery, the more finished and ornate have been the comminations in use.

From Project Gutenberg

In such manner he pleaded, with all the native picturesque imagery of word expression and imagination.

From Project Gutenberg

Her account of the bride's trousseau was almost oriental in the splendour and boldness of its imagery.

From Project Gutenberg

They deal with the most elemental religious conceptions and are full of the imagery of nature.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• symbolism