imagine

American  

[ih-maj-in] / ɪˈmædʒ ɪn /

verb (used with object)

• imagines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• imagined,
  past participle,  past
• imagining
  present participle

1. to form a mental image of (something not actually present to the senses).

   Synonyms:

   picture, image

2. to think, believe, or fancy.

   He imagined the house was haunted.

3. to assume; suppose.

   I imagine they'll be here soon.

4. to conjecture; guess.

   I cannot imagine what you mean.

5. Archaic. to plan, scheme, or plot.

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verb (used without object)

• imagines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• imagined,
  past participle,  past
• imagining
  present participle

1. to form mental images of things not present to the senses; use the imagination.

2. to suppose; think; conjecture.

imagine British  

/ ɪˈmædʒɪn /

verb

1. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to form a mental image of

2. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to think, believe, or guess

3. (tr; takes a clause as object) to suppose; assume

   I imagine he'll come

4. (tr; takes a clause as object) to believe or assume without foundation

   he imagines he knows the whole story

5. an archaic word for plot 1

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1. Also: imagine that!. an exclamation of surprise

Usage

What does imagine mean? To imagine is to form a mental likeness of something or someone not present, as in Imagine flying in a rocket to Mars. To imagine also means to think of something, especially in a way that it is not currently, as in Imagine what the house might look like after all these years. To imagine is also to assume, as in Oh dear, the teacher imagined that we all did our homework. Finally, to imagine can mean to guess, as in Can you imagine what it would be like for it to snow in the summer?Example: I can’t imagine they will take much longer, so we should just wait here.

Synonym Usage

Imagine, conceive, conceive of, realize refer to bringing something before the mind. To imagine is, literally, to form a mental image of something: to imagine yourself in London. To conceive is to form something by using one's imagination: How has the author conceived the first act of his play? To conceive of is to comprehend through the intellect something not perceived through the senses: Wilson conceived of a world free from war. To realize is to make an imagined thing real or concrete to oneself, to grasp fully its implications: to realize the extent of one's folly.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• imaginer
  noun
• preimagine
  verb (used with object)
• reimagine
  verb (used with object)
• imaginable
  adjective
• unimagined
  adjective
• well-imagined
  adjective
• imaginably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• imagining
  present
• imagined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• imagine
  simple
• imagines
  simple
• have imagined
  perfect
• has imagined
  perfect
• am imagining
  progressive
• are imagining
  progressive
• is imagining
  progressive
• have been imagining
  perfect progressive
• has been imagining
  perfect progressive

Past

• imagined
  simple
• had imagined
  perfect
• was imagining
  progressive
• were imagining
  progressive
• had been imagining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will imagine
  simple
• will have imagined
  perfect
• will be imagining
  progressive
• will have been imagining
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of imagine

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English imaginen from Middle French imaginer from Latin imāginārī, equivalent to imāgin- (stem of imāgō ) image + -ā- thematic vowel + -rī infinitive ending

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Explanation

To imagine something is to picture it in your head. When we imagine things, we're using our imagination. The word image is a good clue to the meaning of imagine, a word for picturing or envisioning things. You could imagine you're a king, an astronaut, a firefighter, or a coyote. You could imagine the earth getting hit by an asteroid. If you can think of it, you can imagine it. Sometimes, imagining means believing or guessing. For example, your teacher could say, "Did you really imagine there would be no homework?"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

imagine imagines imagined imagining

"Man, imagine 10, 15, 20 years to come, what we going to have," Duwai said after a fishing trip one night yielded only tiny, juvenile fish.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

"In the case of Abu Dhabi, you would imagine that they wouldn't have any problem accessing funds from elsewhere as well," Leech said.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Perimenopause’s journey from little-understood phase before menopause to the subject of every ad on social media for women of a certain age was quick—and impossible to imagine without the internet.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

It isn’t difficult to imagine a future with a handful of companies worth $10 trillion each.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

“We don’t have the money now,” I admit, glancing quickly at Theo to make sure I’m speaking correctly—I can’t imagine he would carry this kind of money on his person.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

The figure helps introduce the exhibition’s exploration of humanity’s relationship to nature; Albuquerque imagines the character as the maker of her landscape projects and considers her an alter ego.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

But one imagines that, somewhere between the second and third hundred, a person would pause to ask, “You sure you want 260 nuggets, hon?”

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

He imagines Meta has been working on the camera-free glasses for several years, and the current backlash over privacy provides "fantastic timing" for their release.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

This “crystal-like organ of extraordinary potency,” Rudhyar imagines, has thousands of knobs, each one “tuned to the fundamental tone of a star.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

So Alyce learned about the sometimes mighty distance between what one imagines and what is.

From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman

“They certainly would never have imagined, as international students, that this day could possibly come,” Kim said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

"We never imagined they were armed," said one of the people interviewed.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

“It’s not the work or lifestyle that many of these guys entering private equity imagined and so that’s leading to some disenchantment with the industry,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

“As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it til now.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

For a fleeting moment, I imagined the trees had the answers to all my troubles.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

He pressed forward and tried to calm his nerves by imagining himself in a hot bath.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

A third disc, “The Stranger in the House,” finds Costello imagining another potential career for himself as a professional songwriter.

From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2026

You increase it through metacognition, through imagining multiple possible explanations, and through experimenting in small ways that let you learn without losing everything.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

A boy from Watts stares at the ocean, imagining ancient Greek boats sailing across the Pacific and his father in a toga and sneakers, proudly hoisting a trident.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

He tried imagining meeting other Holy Beings, from the Warrior Twins era, from the Changing Woman era, from the First Coyote era.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

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