imagination
Americannoun
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imaginations
plural
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the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
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the action or process of forming such images or concepts.
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the faculty of producing ideal creations consistent with reality, as in literature, as distinct from the power of creating illustrative or decorative imagery.
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the product of imagining a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one.
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ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness.
a job that requires imagination.
- Synonyms:
- thought, enterprise, ingenuity
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Psychology. the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images reproductive imagination or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images directed at a specific goal or aiding in the solution of problems creative imagination.
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(in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories.
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Archaic. a plan, scheme, or plot.
noun
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the faculty or action of producing ideas, esp mental images of what is not present or has not been experienced
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mental creative ability
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the ability to deal resourcefully with unexpected or unusual problems, circumstances, etc
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(in romantic literary criticism, esp that of S. T. Coleridge) a creative act of perception that joins passive and active elements in thinking and imposes unity on the poetic material Compare fancy
Synonym Usage
See fancy.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of imagination
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Middle French, from Latin imāginātiōn- (stem of imāginātiō ) “mental image, fancy,” equivalent to imāgināt(us), past participle of the verb imāginārī imagine ( imāgin-, stem of imāgō image + -ātus -ate 1 ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Imagination refers to the process of forming images or concepts in the mind, often images of things that are not really there. That shark in your bathtub must have been in your imagination — or was it? Often shunned for living in a dream world, imagination is behind unicorns, Big Foot, and excessive daydreaming. But it’s humans’ ability to picture what is not there, and to be resourceful and creative, that is behind many of our achievements. Maybe that’s why Albert Einstein said “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” After all, without a little imagination, we wouldn’t have the pyramids, the space shuttles, or the Star Wars trilogy.
Vocabulary lists containing imagination
Creative Writing - Middle School
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General Terms, List 1
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Creative Writing - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Failure to control A.I., then, points to a lack of imagination from the creator, not from the genius of the machine.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
No one can question that 9/11 was a colossal intelligence failure, or to be more specific, a failure of imagination in the US intelligence community.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Glaser’s aesthetic credo for the venue was appropriately grandiose: “A journey to the promised land, an adventure in imagination, the pursuit of the unexpected.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
While voters’ choices have been, more often than not, defensible, the unanimity betrays a lack of imagination and drains any hint of drama from the ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Jefferson himself thought in this French fashion, Adams claimed, confusing the seductive prospects envisioned in his imagination with the more limited possibilities history permitted.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
That song helped me find that maybe there was a little river of romance in their imaginations in that moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
There are copious cognitive benefits and endless possibilities for where their imaginations can run, unbound by the limiting confines of a tablet.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
"I think if not, people's imaginations run wild and I think we would all like to know exactly what is going on," he says.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
Their imaginations seem to have been fed on solely on “Starship Troopers” and little else except maybe some Tolkien.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
Little children, such as Anne, must never, ever correct their elders, no matter how many blunders they make or how often they let their imaginations run away with them.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
