imagination
Americannoun
-
the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
-
the action or process of forming such images or concepts.
-
the faculty of producing ideal creations consistent with reality, as in literature, as distinct from the power of creating illustrative or decorative imagery.
-
the product of imagining a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one.
-
ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness.
a job that requires imagination.
- Synonyms:
- thought, enterprise, ingenuity
-
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.
-
(in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories.
-
Archaic. a plan, scheme, or plot.
noun
-
the faculty or action of producing ideas, esp mental images of what is not present or has not been experienced
-
mental creative ability
-
the ability to deal resourcefully with unexpected or unusual problems, circumstances, etc
-
(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
Related Words
See fancy.
Other Word Forms
- imaginational adjective
- nonimaginational adjective
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
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.
Its cells held infamous criminals such as Al Capone, and several unsuccessful escape attempts captured public imagination.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
In the popular imagination geishas are often confused with courtesans but their work as trained masters of refined old artforms does not involve selling sex.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
But it remains to be seen whether the long arm of jam law will change the perception of marmalade in the British imagination.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026
The strange dynamics of their friendship and the dark ironies of Mr. Boyson’s imagination build to an ending worthy of a Martin Scorsese picture: perfectly bleak and a little bit funny.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
It stopped just after she did, and she told herself it was her imagination.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
