imagination
/ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/
imagination noun: the image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images.
Noun
imagination (countable and uncountable, plural imaginations)
- The image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images.
- Imagination is one of the most advanced human faculties.
- She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his imagination.1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad
- Synonyms:
- creativity, fancy, imaginativeness, invention, inventiveness
- Particularly, construction of false images; fantasizing.
- You think someone's been following you? That's just your imagination.
- Creativity; resourcefulness.
- His imagination makes him a valuable team member.
- A mental image formed by the action of the imagination as a faculty; something imagined.
- It is a pleasant imagination to conceive a spirit iustly ballanced betweene two equall desires.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 14, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- And yet the invention of young men, is more lively than that of old; and imaginations stream into their minds better, and, as it were, more divinely.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- conception, notion, imagining
imagination meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
imagination in Hindi
- image-making power of the mind
- कल्पना kalpanā, तसव्वुर tasavvur
imagination in Tamil
- image-making power of the mind
- கற்பனை kaṟpaṉai
imagination in Marathi
- imagination
- कल्पना kalpanā
imagination in Urdu
- image-making power of the mind
- خَیال xayāl, تَخَیُّل taxayyul, تَصَوُّر tasavvur, مُخَیِّلَہ muxayyila
More languagesFewer languages
- imagination in Bengali
- কল্পনা kolpona
- imagination in Telugu
- తలపు talapu
- imagination in Malayalam
- സങ്കൽപം saṅkalpaṁ, ചിന്ത cinta
- imagination in Kannada
- ಕಲ್ಪನೆ, ಭಾವನಾತ್ಮಕ, ಊಹಿಕೆ, ನೆನಸಿಕೆ
- imagination in Punjabi
- ਤਸੱਵੁਰ tasavvur
- imagination in Gujarati
- કલ્પના kalpanā
- imagination in Odia
- କଳ୍ପନା
- imagination in Sanskrit
- अध्याशय adhyāśaya
- imagination in Assamese
- কল্পনা kolpona
- imagination in Pashto
- خيال xyāl, تخيل taxayól, تصور tasawór, مخيله mxayelá
- imagination in Tagalog
- haraya, imahinasyon
- imagination in Arabic
- خَيَّال ḵayyāl, تَخَيُّل taḵayyul, تَصَوُّر taṣawwur, مُخَيَّلَة muḵayyala
- imagination in Malay
- imaginasi
- imagination in Indonesian
- imajinasi
- imagination in Thai
- จินตนาการ jin-dtà-naa-gaan
- imagination in Vietnamese
- sự hình dung, sự tưởng tượng
- imagination in Myanmar
- စိတ်ကူး citku:, စိတ်ကူးဉာဏ် citku:nyan
Examples of imagination in a sentence
- Hume believes that principles of association steer the imagination of artists.
- The horror of the deed and its consequences boggle the imagination.
- Without the proper resources, the young manager drew on his imagination to solve the crisis.
Synonyms of imagination
Forms of imagination
| plural | imaginations |
|---|
Origin of imagination
From Middle English ymaginacioun, from Old French imaginacion, ymaginacion, from Latin imāginātiō. Equivalent to imagine + -ation.
Words formed from imagination
- by any stretch of the imagination
- by no stretch of imagination
- by no stretch of the imagination
- counterimagination
- figment of one's imagination
- imaginational
- imaginationless
- leave little to the imagination
- leave nothing to the imagination
- leave to the imagination
- misimagination
- reimagination
- sociological imagination
Phrases with imagination
Words that rhyme with imagination
- station
- collation
- accommodation
- presentation
- derivation
- information
- modulation
- translation
- application
- fixation
- generation
- orientation
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- citation
- combination
- communication
- conjugation
- constellation
- determination
- elevation
- operation
- relation
- reservation
- alternation
- condensation
- conversation
- deviation
- excavation
- foliation
- formation
- foundation
- incarnation
- interpretation
- representation
- retardation
- speculation
- termination
- abbreviation
- adaptation
- articulation
- bifurcation
- concentration
- congregation
- declination
- degradation
- expectation
- extenuation
- gradation
- observation
- population
- preparation
- reconciliation
- rotation
- separation
- situation
- vexation
- vindication
- accumulation
- administration
- aggregation
- appropriation
Questions about imagination
- What does imagination mean?
- Imagination means the image-making power of the mind; the act of mentally creating or reproducing an object not previously perceived; the ability to create such images.
- What is imagination in Hindi?
- Imagination in Hindi is कल्पना (kalpanā), तसव्वुर (tasavvur). See Imagination meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is imagination?
- Imagination is a noun.
- How do you pronounce imagination?
- Imagination is pronounced /ɪˌmæd͡ʒəˈneɪʃən/.
- What is the plural of imagination?
- The plural of imagination is imaginations.
Words near imagination in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: imagination (page history and authors); कल्पना (Marathi) (page history and authors); తలపు (Telugu) (page history and authors); ചിന്ത (Malayalam) (page history and authors); imagination (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਤਸੱਵੁਰ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); કલ્પના (Gujarati) (page history and authors); imagination (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); अध्याशय (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); কল্পনা (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-imagination.ogg.
Cite this entry: “imagination.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/imagination. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.