imaginary

American  

[ih-maj-uh-ner-ee] / ɪˈmædʒ əˌnɛr i /

adjective

1. existing only in the imagination or fancy; not real; fancied.

   an imaginary illness; the imaginary animals in the stories of Dr. Seuss.

   Synonyms:

   illusory, baseless, chimerical, shadowy, visionary, fanciful

   Antonyms:

   real

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noun

plural

imaginaries

1. Mathematics. imaginary number.

imaginary British  

/ -dʒɪnrɪ, ɪˈmædʒɪnərɪ /

adjective

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 Im z

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Other Word Forms

• imaginarily adverb
• imaginariness noun
• nonimaginarily adverb
• nonimaginarilyness noun
• nonimaginariness noun
• nonimaginary adjective
• preimaginary adjective
• unimaginary adjective

Etymology

Origin of imaginary

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

Example Sentences

I took many imaginary beaver and muskrat but I did no more sets and killed no more animals.

From Literature

"I tell my children imaginary stories. I try to make the stories motivating and uplifting," she said, such as tales of a new home with separate rooms and beds.

From Barron's

I shook my head, clearing the thoughts of my imaginary family away as I shut my closet door.

From Literature

In the South, the book was said to have been “founded on imaginary circumstances, and gross improbabilities” and frequently banned.

From Literature

“Now let’s say there’s a monkey out there and you want to catch him,” he said, making a long swipe at an imaginary monkey.

From Literature

Related Words

• abstract
• fanciful
• fantastic
• fictional
• hypothetical
• imagined
• theoretical
• unreal
• whimsical