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

Here’s what we know about how the events unfolded, based on a review of satellite imagery, flight tracking data, audio records, videos, photography and people familiar with the operation.

From The Wall Street Journal

He studies satellite imagery to find the paths worn away by the poachers through large fields and grasslands.

From BBC

But their emphasis here presents Man Ray, who was a talented portrait photographer, as an experimentalist chasing rather than creating imagery.

From The Wall Street Journal

A total of 408 personnel from the government's disaster agency AFAD, police and health services are at the scene, the minister said, while the real-time imagery from the area is being relayed by drones.

From Barron's

The dazzling display of lights, accompanied by religious and festive imagery and soundtracked by Filipino rap and Christmas carols, is part of the annual Giant Lantern Festival.

From Barron's

Related Words

• symbolism