imaginary

American  

[ih-maj-uh-ner-ee] / ɪˈmædʒ əˌnɛr i /

adjective

1. existing only in the imagination or fancy; not real; fancied.

   an imaginary illness; the imaginary animals in the stories of Dr. Seuss.

   Synonyms:

   illusory, baseless, chimerical, shadowy, visionary, fanciful

   Antonyms:

   real

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noun

plural

imaginaries

1. Mathematics. imaginary number.

imaginary British  

/ -dʒɪnrɪ, ɪˈmædʒɪnərɪ /

adjective

1. existing in the imagination; unreal; illusory

2. maths involving or containing imaginary numbers. The imaginary part of a complex number, z, is usually written Im z

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Other Word Forms

• imaginarily adverb
• imaginariness noun
• nonimaginarily adverb
• nonimaginarilyness noun
• nonimaginariness noun
• nonimaginary adjective
• preimaginary adjective
• unimaginary adjective

Etymology

Origin of imaginary

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin imāginārius, equivalent to imāgin-, (stem of imāgō ) image + -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

The movie was filmed in Taiwan but set in what Chow called an "imaginary world".

From Barron's

The rising bills aren’t imaginary, nor are they likely to go away on their own.

From The Wall Street Journal

This includes managing an imaginary inventory and suppliers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Orbital Axis: An imaginary line defining the orientation of a planet's orbit around its star.

From Science Daily

Locals shuffled through makeshift aisles bounded by curio cabinets, wardrobes and home bars styled with faux cocktails for an imaginary party.

From Salon

Related Words

• abstract
• fanciful
• fantastic
• fictional
• hypothetical
• imagined
• theoretical
• unreal
• whimsical