imagination

[ ih-maj-uh-ney-shuhn ]
See synonyms for imagination on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.

  2. the action or process of forming such images or concepts.

  1. 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).

  2. the product of imagining a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one.

  3. ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness: a job that requires imagination.

  4. 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 ).

  5. (in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories.

  6. Archaic. a plan, scheme, or plot.

Origin of imagination

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin imāginātiōn- (stem of imāginātiō ) “mental image, fancy,” equivalent to imāgināt(us), past participle of the verb imāginārī imagine (imāgin-, stem of imāgō image + -ātus -ate1) + -iōn- -ion

synonym study For imagination

3. See fancy.

Other words for imagination

Other words from imagination

  • i·mag·i·na·tion·al, adjective
  • non·im·ag·i·na·tion·al, adjective

Words Nearby imagination

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use imagination in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for imagination

imagination

/ (ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the faculty or action of producing ideas, esp mental images of what is not present or has not been experienced

  2. mental creative ability

  1. the ability to deal resourcefully with unexpected or unusual problems, circumstances, etc

  2. (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

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.