INDEX:
1. to have a picture or idea of something in your mind
2. to imagine something you want to do or want to happen
3. to wrongly think that something is happening
4. something that you imagine
5. your ability to imagine things
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ THINK
↑ IDEA
↑ PRETEND
↑ REAL
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1. to have a picture or idea of something in your mind
▷ imagine /ɪˈmædʒɪn, ɪˈmædʒən/ [transitive verb not in progressive or passive]
to think about something and form a picture or idea in your mind about it :
▪ Try to imagine a room as big as a football field.
imagine (that)
▪ For a while she imagined that she was a rich woman, living in a beautiful house.
imagine what/who/where
▪ From the description Janet gave in her letter it was easy to imagine what her new apartment was like.
imagine doing something
▪ Just imagine having to spend the rest of your life in jail.
imagine somebody doing something
▪ I can quite easily imagine you running your own business.
can’t imagine somebody doing something
▪ I can’t imagine anyone wearing clothes that colour.
▷ visualize also visualise British /ˈvɪʒuəlaɪz/ [transitive verb not in progressive]
to form a very clear picture of something or someone in your mind, especially in order to help you prepare to do something or help you to remember something clearly :
▪ An architect can look at a drawing and visualize a three-dimensional shape.
▪ David could still visualize Polly, even though he had not seen her for ten years.
visualize where/what/how
▪ He closed his eyes, trying to visualize where he had put his watch.
▷ picture /ˈpɪktʃəʳ/ [transitive verb not in progressive]
to have a clear picture of something or someone in your mind, especially because you are trying to imagine what it is like to do something or what someone looks like :
▪ Can you picture it? Lying in the sun, sipping cocktails -- it would be paradise!
picture something/somebody as
▪ I had never met Graham but I pictured him as a pale, thin young man wearing glasses.
picture somebody doing something
▪ Miguel could still picture the children laughing and joking, and chasing each other around the garden.
▷ can see /kən ˈsiː/ [verb phrase not in progressive or in passive]
to have a clear picture of something you are thinking about in your mind, especially something pleasant or funny, or something you think is likely to happen :
▪ I’m going to Corfu next week. I can see it all now -- sun, sand and sea!
can see somebody doing something
▪ Jimmy’s gone skiing for the first time. I can just see him coming home with a broken leg.
▷ form a picture /ˌfɔːʳm ə ˈpɪktʃəʳ/ [verb phrase]
to form an idea of something in your mind, using the information you have about it :
▪ The Hubble Space Telescope allows astronomers to form a more accurate picture of our solar system.
▷ conceive of /kənˈsiːv ɒv/ [] formal
to imagine something happening or what a particular situation is like - use this especially in questions and negative statements :
▪ It is difficult to conceive of a society in which nobody has to work.
cannot conceive of something
▪ I don’t know about you, but I cannot conceive of a home without electricity or water.
2. to imagine something you want to do or want to happen
▷ fantasize also fantasise British /ˈfæntəsaɪz/ [intransitive verb]
to think about something that you would like to do or that you would like to happen, especially when it is very unlikely that you will do it or that it will happen :
fantasize about doing something
▪ I often fantasize about living in a big house with tennis courts and a swimming pool.
▪ Many men fantasize about sleeping with someone who is not their partner.
▷ daydream /ˈdeɪdriːm/ [intransitive verb]
to spend a short time imagining something pleasant, so that you forget where you are and what you are doing, especially when you are bored :
▪ Mark had begun to daydream, and didn’t even hear the teacher’s question.
daydream about/of
▪ Carol sat at her desk, daydreaming about meeting Mel Gibson.
▪ When Charles tapped me on the shoulder I was daydreaming of golden beaches and palm trees.
▷ dream /driːm/ [intransitive verb]
to imagine something pleasant that you would like to do or to happen, especially if it is possible that it might happen :
dream of/about
▪ When I was at college I dreamed of becoming a great novelist.
▪ Going abroad for a holiday was something our grandparents could only dream about.
dream (that)
▪ Maura had never dreamt that she could feel like this.
3. to wrongly think that something is happening
▷ imagine /ɪˈmædʒɪn, ɪˈmædʒən/ [transitive verb]
to wrongly think that you can see or hear something when it is not really happening :
imagine (that)
▪ When I was a child I would lie awake imagining that there were monsters in the dark corners of my room.
▪ Mary was always imagining that people were talking about her behind her back.
I/you/he etc must be imagining things
▪ ‘I’m sure I saw Brian in the park today.’ ‘No, you must be imagining things. Brian hasn’t lived here for nearly fifteen years.’
▷ be seeing things /biː ˈsiːɪŋ θɪŋz/ [verb phrase] especially spoken
say this when you or someone else has imagined something that cannot be real :
I/you/he etc must be seeing things
▪ ‘Did that man just wave at me?’ ‘Of course not, you must be seeing things.’
▷ be in the mind/be in your mind /biː ɪn ðə ˈmaɪnd, biː ɪn jɔːʳ ˈmaɪnd/ [verb phrase]
if something is in the mind or in your mind, you are imagining it and it does not really exist :
all in the mind
▪ I don’t think Martin is really ill -- it’s all in the mind.
all in your mind
▪ No-one is trying to kill you. It’s all in your mind.
▷ hallucinate /həˈluːsɪneɪt, həˈluːsəneɪt/ [intransitive verb]
if someone who is ill or has taken drugs hallucinates, they believe that they can see things that are not really there :
▪ After two days without food and water, Voss began to hallucinate.
▷ figment of your imagination /ˌfɪgmənt əv jɔːr ɪˌmædʒə̇ˈneɪʃ ə n/ [noun phrase]
something that does not really exist and that you were just imagining :
▪ Sceptics will tell you that there is no such thing as reincarnation and that living a previous life is a figment of the subject’s imagination.
4. something that you imagine
▷ imaginary /ɪˈmædʒɪn ə ri, ɪˈmædʒən ə riǁ-neri/ [adjective]
not real, but existing only as a picture or idea in your mind :
▪ When Linda was a child she had an imaginary friend called Booboo.
▪ He pointed an imaginary gun at me and pretended to shoot.
▪ Frankie was the kind of guy who lived in an imaginary world all of his own.
▷ fantasy /ˈfæntəsi/ [countable noun]
an exciting or enjoyable experience that you imagine happening to you, but which will probably never happen :
▪ Everyone’s fantasy is that one day they will win the National Lottery.
live in a fantasy world
to always be having fantasies
▪ My son seems to live in a fantasy world sometimes.
▷ daydream /ˈdeɪdriːm/ [countable noun]
pleasant thoughts you have about something you would like to do, that make you forget where you are and what you are doing :
▪ I began to have daydreams about us being married.
▪ She was sitting at the back of the class, lost in a daydream.
▷ hallucination /həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃ ə n, həˌluːsəˈneɪʃ ə n/ [countable noun]
something you see that does not really exist, especially something that you see because you are ill or have taken drugs :
▪ I knew that what I had seen was a hallucination, but it was so real and frightening.
have hallucinations
▪ Jamie lost two and a half stone in the next fortnight, couldn’t eat and had hallucinations.
▷ vision /ˈvɪʒ ə n/ [countable noun]
an image, especially a religious image, that you can see but which other people cannot :
▪ Bernadette had a vision in which the Virgin Mary appeared before her.
5. your ability to imagine things
▷ imagination /ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃ ə n, ɪˌmædʒəˈneɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
▪ Reading is a good way to develop a child’s imagination at an early age.
▪ There’s no-one knocking at the door - it must have been your imagination.
use your imagination
▪ I don’t have a photograph with me so you’ll have to use your imagination.
vivid imagination
very strong imagination
▪ Jack’s vivid imagination often gave him bad dreams.
fertile imagination
having a lot of original ideas
▪ Shakespeare has the most fertile imagination of all the poets.