imagination
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. : Compare fancy (def. 9).
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.
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.
Origin of imagination
1synonym study For imagination
Other words for imagination
Other words from imagination
- i·mag·i·na·tion·al, adjective
- non·im·ag·i·na·tion·al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for imagination
/ (ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃən) /
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 (def. 9)
Derived forms of imagination
- imaginational, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with imagination
see figment of one's imagination.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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