imagery

American  

[im-ij-ree, im-i-juh-ree] / ˈɪm ɪdʒ ri, ˈɪm ɪ dʒə ri /

noun

plural

imageries

1. the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively.

   the dim imagery of a dream.

2. pictorial images, as in works of art.

3. the use of rhetorical images.

4. figurative description or illustration; rhetorical images collectively.

5. Psychology. mental images collectively, especially those produced by the action of imagination.

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imagery British  

/ ˈɪmɪdʒrɪ, -dʒərɪ /

noun

1. figurative or descriptive language in a literary work

2. images collectively

3. psychol

   1. the materials or general processes of the imagination

   2. the characteristic kind of mental images formed by a particular individual See also image imagination

4. military the presentation of objects reproduced photographically (by infrared or electronic means) as prints or electronic displays

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imagery Cultural  

1. The mental pictures created by a piece of writing: “The imagery of “The Waste Land” — crumbling towers, dried-up wells, toppled tombstones — conveys the author's sense of a civilization in decay.”

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Other Word Forms

• imagerial adjective
• imagerially adverb

Etymology

Origin of imagery

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English imagerie, from Old French, equivalent to image + -ery

Example Sentences

Satellite imagery of Prince Sultan throughout March shows an E-3 parked in the same location of the one struck by Iran last week on at least several days that month.

From The Wall Street Journal

At Isfahan, for example, satellite imagery from February indicated all entrances to its tunnel complex appeared to be sealed off with earth, which would make any operation more difficult.

From BBC

Every day, she steeps herself in the worst imagery the internet has to offer.

From Los Angeles Times

These are poets who sought to alter the reader’s perception of reality by way of arresting, often sense-defying arrangements of language and imagery.

From The Wall Street Journal

Clare hummed a sound of agreement, struck by the lovely imagery.

From Literature

Related Words

• symbolism