imagery

[im-ij-ree, im-i-juh-ree]

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.

imagery

/ 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

imagery

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.”

Other Word Forms

• imagerial adjective
• imagerially adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of imagery¹

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

Example Sentences

The next generation of operatives, campaign managers and elected officials is being incubated in a digital ecosystem that rewards cruelty, embraces fascist imagery and treats bigotry as a badge of ideological authenticity.

Read more on Salon

Platner revealed that he got the ink while serving in the military and was unaware of its connections to Nazi imagery.

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While Lamar’s performance indeed touched a political third rail by embracing pro-Black imagery and metaphors, the Compton, California, native was demonstrably most in his zone when basking in coy slights to his rap nemesis, Drake.

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Satellite imagery revealed it was dismantled shortly after the 10 October ceasefire came into effect.

Read more on BBC

In May, Congress passed the Take It Down Act, a law that makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish nonconsensual intimate imagery of minors or adults—whether real or AI-generated.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• symbolism