imagination
Americannoun
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imaginations
plural
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the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
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the action or process of forming such images or concepts.
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the faculty of producing ideal creations consistent with reality, as in literature, as distinct from the power of creating illustrative or decorative imagery.
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the product of imagining a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one.
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ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness.
a job that requires imagination.
- Synonyms:
- thought, enterprise, ingenuity
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Psychology. the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images reproductive imagination or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images directed at a specific goal or aiding in the solution of problems creative imagination.
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(in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories.
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Archaic. a plan, scheme, or plot.
noun
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the faculty or action of producing ideas, esp mental images of what is not present or has not been experienced
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mental creative ability
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the ability to deal resourcefully with unexpected or unusual problems, circumstances, etc
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(in romantic literary criticism, esp that of S. T. Coleridge) a creative act of perception that joins passive and active elements in thinking and imposes unity on the poetic material Compare fancy
Synonym Usage
See fancy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of imagination
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin imāginātiōn- (stem of imāginātiō ) “mental image, fancy,” equivalent to imāgināt(us), past participle of the verb imāginārī imagine ( imāgin-, stem of imāgō image + -ātus -ate 1 ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Imagination refers to the process of forming images or concepts in the mind, often images of things that are not really there. That shark in your bathtub must have been in your imagination — or was it? Often shunned for living in a dream world, imagination is behind unicorns, Big Foot, and excessive daydreaming. But it’s humans’ ability to picture what is not there, and to be resourceful and creative, that is behind many of our achievements. Maybe that’s why Albert Einstein said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” After all, without a little imagination, we wouldn’t have the pyramids, the space shuttles, or the Star Wars trilogy.
Vocabulary lists containing imagination
Creative Writing - Middle School
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General Terms, List 1
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Creative Writing - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Chandler might not have known much about Lanterns, but he does understand the power of imagination.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
In the past five years, Sanxingdui has captured the imagination of a Chinese nation eager to revel in its long history and civilizational accomplishments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Streets were engineered to move vehicles as quickly as possible, while the one road user every citizen inevitably becomes - the pedestrian - largely disappeared from planners' imagination.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
He grew up only 10 blocks from the American Museum of Natural History, where a frightening skull display first captured his imagination.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Two: Piper Milly’s winning science project was absurd. Shooting marbles at an unbaked cake? That’s just sad. Three, and most importantly: Piper Milly is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a person who excels.”
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
That song helped me find that maybe there was a little river of romance in their imaginations in that moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
"I think if not, people's imaginations run wild and I think we would all like to know exactly what is going on," he says.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Their imaginations seem to have been fed on solely on “Starship Troopers” and little else except maybe some Tolkien.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
They want the insider scoop over these worlds that still capture our imaginations, propelling them into new and fantastical places while keeping us grounded in human creativity.
From Salon ● May 6, 2026
With Mach 1 achieved, engineering imaginations broke free of all previous speed limits.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
