Library / English Dictionary

IMAGINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Expect, believe, or suppose

Example:

I guess she is angry at me for standing her up

Synonyms:

guess; imagine; opine; reckon; suppose; think

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "imagine" is one way to...):

anticipate; expect (regard something as probable or likely)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "imagine"):

suspect (hold in suspicion; believe to be guilty)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They imagine that there was a traffic accident

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case

Example:

Can you conceive of him as the president?

Synonyms:

conceive of; envisage; ideate; imagine

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "imagine" is one way to...):

create by mental act; create mentally (create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "imagine"):

envision; fancy; figure; image; picture; project; see; visualise; visualize (imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind)

visualise; visualize (form a mental picture of something that is invisible or abstract)

envision; foresee (picture to oneself; imagine possible)

fantasise; fantasize (portray in the mind)

prefigure (imagine or consider beforehand)

think (imagine or visualize)

fantasise; fantasize; fantasy (indulge in fantasies)

daydream; dream; stargaze; woolgather (have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

imagination (the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses)

imagination (the ability to form mental images of things or events)

imaginative ((used of persons or artifacts) marked by independence and creativity in thought or action)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Skin findings arising from repeated rubbing, picking or scratching of a real or imagined irritation of the skin.

(Neurodermatitis, NCI Thesaurus)

The thing was extremely small, even for me, and I can hardly imagine that it could have floated with a full-sized man.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Imagine if parts of your body moved when you didn't want them to.

(Movement Disorders, NIH)

A series of names, words, or other items written, printed, or imagined one after the other.

(List, NCI Thesaurus)

Imagine ponds dotting the floor of Gale Crater, the 100-mile-wide (150-kilometer-wide) ancient basin that Curiosity is exploring.

(NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds an Ancient Oasis on Mars, NASA)

First glimpse of Jupiter's north pole, and it looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before.

(Jupiter's North Pole Unlike Anything Encountered in Solar System, NASA)

In effect, when people imagined sounds, those sounds seemed quieter.

(Talking to Ourselves And Voices in Our Heads, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A response indicating the something is as bad as can be expected or imagined.

(As Bad As It Can Be, NCI Thesaurus)

A response indicating a situation is as bad as can be imagined.

(As Bad as You Can Imagine, NCI Thesaurus)

A response that indicates the largest amount imagined.

(As Much As Possible, NCI Thesaurus)