envisage
Americanverb
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to form a mental image of; visualize; contemplate
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to conceive of as a possibility in the future; foresee
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archaic to look in the face of; confront
Usage
It was formerly considered incorrect to use a clause after envisage as in it is envisaged that the new centre will cost £40 million , but this use is now acceptable
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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envisagesimple
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envisagessimple
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have envisagedperfect
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has envisagedperfect
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am envisagingprogressive
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are envisagingprogressive
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is envisagingprogressive
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have been envisagingperfect progressive
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has been envisagingperfect progressive
Past
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envisagedsimple
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had envisagedperfect
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was envisagingprogressive
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were envisagingprogressive
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had been envisagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of envisage
From the French word envisager, dating back to 1810–20. See en- 1, visage
Compare meaning
How does envisage compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Martin Luther King Jr. envisaged a time when black and white Americans would no longer be segregated by race. To envisage is to imagine something that does not yet exist. The words envisage and envision share the same Latin root meaning to see. Both words are very similar in meaning but do have slight shades of difference. If you envision something happening, you can see it happening in your mind. I'm sure you can envision yourself graduating from high school! If you envisage something, you can imagine it, but not necessarily see it. You can envisage world peace, but it may be harder to envision it.
Vocabulary lists containing envisage
Fidel Castro (1926-2016) Memorial List
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English Words Derived from French, List 7
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Harry Truman's Inauguration Address
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Do you envisage a full return of cargo after Hormuz reopens?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
“However, we still envisage another rate hike before the year-end.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
It has led some in Parliament to envisage a scenario where Nigel Farage fights and wins one by-election, only to be confronted by another.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
The plans, which still need to be approved by parliament, envisage Europe's biggest economy spending more than projected just a few months ago and also taking on greater debt.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Indeed, it used to be thought that Brunelleschi had produced his demonstration images around 1425 simply because scholars wanted to envisage these images as immediately provoking new art and new theories.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
In response to the migrant crisis in the Spanish territory of Ceuta this year, the proposal also envisages a "quick reaction force" and a new monitoring centre to scan social media.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
Before leaving for Barcelona this summer, he played up front for Newcastle at times last season and has previously said that, in time, he envisages playing more centrally.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
“It moves developments closer to our baseline scenario for the conflict, which envisages an end to hostilities and a normalization of shipping by the end of this month.”
From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026
Renault’s new medium-term financial outlook envisages its group operating margin between 5%-7%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Naturally, none of them envisages the possibility of atmospheric substance changing into the heat-condition and back again.
From Man or Matter by Ernst Lehrs
An early draft joint statement envisaged deeper cooperation on both AI infrastructure and regulation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Perkins envisaged an investor in 2030, looking back on 2026 as the year when things started to look a bit rotten below the surface.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
This dreadful defeat was not the start he or the Spurs power brokers envisaged.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
The deal followed a similar agreement with Nissan that envisaged a potentially earlier launch in Japan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
And Vespucci had sailed 50 degrees south of the equator: this was not just the equatorial antipodes that some exponents of the two-spheres theory had envisaged.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
They also establish a strict obligation for migrants subject to expulsion to leave and cooperate with authorities, envisaging harsher penalties, including detention, for those who refuse to do so.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
In a final, unsent letter, addressed to Maximilien Robespierre, she wrote, “speak; it is something to know one’s fate, and with a soul like mine, one is capable of envisaging it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
Nick Mackenzie, the boss of pub chain Greene King, told the BBC's Today programme the rise in the minimum wage was "slightly higher than we were envisaging".
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2024
Both leaders said the long stalled two-state solution, envisaging independent states for the Israelis and Palestinians, was the best way to create peace.
From Reuters ● Oct. 29, 2023
For them, as we saw in Chapter 9, the argument from design depended on envisaging the universe as manufactured, rather than on showing nature itself to be purposive.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
