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imaginary

[ih-maj-uh-ner-ee]

adjective

existing only in the imagination or fancy; not real; fancied: an imaginary illness; the imaginary animals in the stories of Dr. Seuss.

noun

Mathematics. imaginary number.

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Imaginary is always a great word to know.

So is solution. Does it mean:

quantity; number represented by a figure or symbol, a point in the range of a function

the process of determining the answer to a problem, or the answer itself

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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin imāginārius, equivalent to imāgin-, (stem of imāgō) image + -ārius -ary

Related forms

im·ag·i·nar·i·ly, adverb

im·ag·i·nar·i·ness, noun

non·im·ag·i·nar·i·ly, adverb

non·im·ag·i·nar·i·ly·ness, noun

non·im·ag·i·nar·i·ness, noun

EXPAND

non·im·ag·i·nar·y, adjective

pre·im·ag·i·nar·y, adjective

un·im·ag·i·nar·y, adjective

COLLAPSE

Can be confused: imaginary, imaginative.

Synonyms
1. fanciful, visionary, shadowy, chimerical, baseless, illusory.

Antonyms
1. real.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To imaginary

Example Sentences

Complex numbers, a hybrid of the imaginary and the real, are the pinnacle of number systems.

These prohibitions and quite a few more turn out to be imaginary monsters under the bed.

It is a plausible biography-given the necessary addition of animal spirits-but an imaginary one.

EXPAND

Complex numbers, a hybrid of the imaginary and the real, are the pinnacle of number systems.

These prohibitions and quite a few more turn out to be imaginary monsters under the bed.

It is a plausible biography-given the necessary addition of animal spirits-but an imaginary one.

Brainstorm some names of imaginary prehistoric creatures if they were discovered in your local area.

Our mental maps of risk and safety rely too heavily on imaginary boundaries.

Generations were raised on it, and rearing their own with the show, with that big goofy bird and his imaginary friend.

For anyone who has ever spent time within imaginary realms, the book will speak volumes.

Why imaginary brands can be even better than the real thing.

Perceived personality is what is in an imaginary friend, a cartoon or movie character, or a robot.

In the imaginary smallpox outbreak, a local biological attack ballooned into a national crisis.

Brainstorm some names of imaginary prehistoric sea creatures if they were discovered in your local area.

Borders are all-important imaginary lines that affect our lives in myriad ways.

Samsung's imaginary cameras uses depth information from two lenses to blur backgrounds.

Hot flashes are a staple of menopause jokes, but there is nothing funny about them, and certainly nothing imaginary.

And it is this monster that haunts our cultural imaginary.

Nobody will read the lavish supplements that trumpet your imaginary virtues and conceal your real flaws.

He likened it to a length of rope in an imaginary tug of war.

Still another glanced over his shoulder as he ran from imaginary lions.

Others have employed it to create imaginary boundaries beyond which they don't need to bother looking for apartments.

People who talk to themselves or who have imaginary companions are not necessarily mentally unhinged.

So you spin your wheels for years and years based on this imaginary scenario.

In its pavilion the firm built a command centre to keep tabs on an imaginary smart city.

Then have the students write imaginary conversations with friends explaining whether they would have helped the slaves.

When you believe an imaginary being has control of your life and the world, crazy is easy and ignorance the norm.

In this method, each pixel is defined by projecting an imaginary light ray through the space between voxels in a straight line.

Sometimes they use hand-held radios to set an imaginary starting line between an anchored fishing boat and a smokestack on shore.

Squabble all you want over imaginary prejudice you project into this article or attack it author.

Stress-testing portfolios against imaginary perfect storms remedies some of the weaknesses.

Have students create an adventure travel brochure for an imaginary place.

Many millions of dollars continue to be spent looking for some non-existent imaginary particle.

Many people find imaginary lines on the ground interesting.

She sits at her kitchen table, strumming an imaginary guitar with a phantom hand.

But fear of largely imaginary environmental problems can divert political energy from dealing with real ones.

Have students create an imaginary forest, and make up a story about someone who comes to the forest to start a business.

Your study has show nothing but your illusory, and imaginary distortion of the facts with no conclusive evidence.

All men need chips in their brains that electrocute them when they have lascivious thoughts of children, real or imaginary.

Have students create an imaginary immigrant character living somewhere in the world today.

The only evolutionary psychology under attack here is an imaginary straw person.

Imaginary enemies are a desperate ruse to provide the union with coherence.

That's the imaginary line around the planet's middle.

I'll translate your statement: imaginary things cannot be studied by science.

The charges are imaginary and do not stick in the court of law but are sufficient to cause damages.

Adding to the deception were two huge but imaginary military units.

The distance between two objects in space must be made of something, or it simply does not exist and is imaginary.

Instead the value for time becomes an imaginary number.

Forgive me for not believing in people's imaginary friends.

Devout daydreamers may take refuge in imaginary worlds for hours to days.

Then he puts an imaginary pistol to his head and, with a grin, fires it.

In the mean time, if a primitive people want to cower in fear and depression because of their imaginary vengeful god, let them.

The entire premise is a fantasy character pursuing imaginary achievements where players escape real life.

It's time staticians start using imaginary numbers in their prediction models.

But any big numbers you see will be a conflation of real crime and imaginary damages, so it's not reliable information.

Make sure you thank a doctor or nurse for curing you instead of thanking an imaginary sky-daddy.

We have real problems to deal with, not imaginary ones.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

imaginary (ɪˈmædʒɪnərɪ, -dʒɪnrɪ)

—*adj*
1.	existing in the imagination; unreal; illusory
2.	maths involving or containing imaginary numbers. The imaginary part of a complex number, z, is usually written Imz

im'aginarily

—*adv*

im'aginariness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Matching Quote

"Of all the needs (there are none imaginary) a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaking need for an unshakable God."

-Maya Angelou

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