imaginary
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
-
existing in the imagination; unreal; illusory
-
maths involving or containing imaginary numbers. The imaginary part of a complex number, z, is usually written Im z
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of imaginary
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin imāginārius, equivalent to imāgin-, (stem of imāgō ) image + -ārius -ary
Explanation
Anything imaginary is not real: it only exists in someone's head. We hate to ruin your day, but unicorns are imaginary. Our imagination allows us to think of anything we want, and things that only exist in our minds are imaginary. Many children have imaginary friends: people they talk to who aren't real. Mythological beings like dragons, Zeus, and Thor are imaginary. A fantasy about marrying a movie star is probably imaginary, because that isn't likely to happen.
Vocabulary lists containing imaginary
List 1
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Common Core Grade 6, List 4
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Common Core Grade 5, List 4
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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.
As the imaginary train whisks the puppets around the country, the show manages to build anticipation just by making the crowd wonder what comes next.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
The writer bashes imaginary feminists who supposedly tell women that caring about appearance is “some kind of intellectual failure.”
From Salon • May 8, 2026
In the hush of his office, John Francis Seymour is working what he calls “the levers of power” like a 53-year-old kid running an imaginary earthmover.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
A gladiator, it seems, moved up the ranks—often through training and victories in the arena—“like a trainee orator moving from imaginary speeches to those of the courtroom.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
This confusion between what was real and what was imaginary shadowed the Mona Lisa investigation.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Definitions 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.
