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

AFP's Fact Check team has noted a surge of such imagery on social networks, distorting the history of Nazi Germany's murder of six million European Jews during World War II.

From Barron's

Drones, sensors, satellite imagery, autonomous aircraft and cameras are among tools used to manage and fight wildfires.

From Los Angeles Times

Planet Labs, a company specializing in Earth imagery satellites, in 2025 disclosed national security-focused agreements with a Japanese company, as well as with the German government.

From The Wall Street Journal

His work channeled literary imagery, but also drew influence from Nietzschean nihilism and Jungian depth psychology.

From Salon

Satellite imagery later placed it at Venezuela's Jose oil terminal on 22 and 23 December, before its signal reappeared outside the country's waters on 26 December.

From BBC

Related Words

• symbolism