/ ɪˈmædʒɪn; NAmE / verb
1.
to form a picture in your mind of what sth might be like :
[ vn ]
The house was just as she had imagined it.
I can't imagine life without the children now.
[ v ( that )]
Close your eyes and imagine (that) you are in a forest.
[ v wh- ]
Can you imagine what it must be like to lose your job after 20 years?
[ v -ing ]
She imagined walking into the office and handing in her resignation.
Imagine earning that much money!
[ vn -ing ]
I can just imagine him saying that!
[ vn to inf ]
I had imagined her to be older than that.
[ v ] ( informal )
'He was furious.' ' I can imagine .'
[also vn - adj , vn - n ]
2.
to believe sth that is not true :
[ v ( that )]
He's always imagining (that) we're talking about him behind his back.
[ vn ]
There's nobody there. You're imagining things .
3.
to think that sth is probably true
SYN suppose , assume :
[ v ( that )]
I don't imagine (that) they'll refuse.
[ v ]
'Can we still buy tickets for the concert?' 'I imagine so .'
[also vn that ]
••
SYNONYMS
imagine
envisage ♦ visualize ♦ picture ♦ envision
All these words mean to form an idea in your mind of what sb/sth might be like.
imagine
to form an idea in your mind of what sb/sth might be like:
The house was just as she had imagined it.
envisage
( especially BrE ) to imagine what will happen in the future:
I don't envisage working with him again.
NOTE
The usual word for this in American English is envision (see below).
visualize
( rather formal ) to form a picture of sb/sth in your mind:
Try to visualize him as an old man.
picture
to form a picture of sb/sth in your mind:
We found it hard to picture him as the father of three kids.
imagine, visualize or picture?
Imagine is the most general of these words and is used for any idea that you form of how a person, place, thing or experience might look or feel. Visualize and picture are used particularly for imagining sth in a picture. They are very similar in meaning but visualize is slightly more formal and is often used for a deliberate attempt to imagine sth for a particular purpose.
envision
to imagine what a situation will be like in the future, especially a situation that you intend to work towards:
They envision an equal society, free from poverty and disease.
NOTE
Envision is used especially in business and political contexts. In North American English it is also used as another form of the word envisage :
I don't envision working with him again.
PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS :
to imagine / envisage / visualize / picture / envision sb/sth as sth
to imagine / envisage / visualize / picture / envision (sb) doing sth
to imagine / envisage / visualize / picture / envision who / what / how...
to imagine / envisage / visualize / envision that...
to be easy / hard / difficult / impossible to imagine / envisage / visualize / picture / envision
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French imaginer , from Latin imaginare form an image of, represent and imaginari picture to oneself, both from imago , imagin- image.