imaginative
Americanadjective
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characterized by or bearing evidence of imagination.
an imaginative tale.
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of, relating to, or concerned with imagination.
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given to imagining, as persons.
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having exceptional powers of imagination.
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lacking truth; fanciful.
adjective
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produced by or indicative of a vivid or creative imagination
an imaginative story
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having a vivid imagination
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of imaginative
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin imāginātīvus imaginary, imaginative, equivalent to Latin imāgināt ( us ) imagined ( see imagination) + -īvus -ive; replacing Middle English imaginatif < Middle French < Medieval Latin, as above
Explanation
To be imaginative is to be inventive and original. If you enjoy coming up with stories, writing songs, or just thinking about things in new ways, you’re an imaginative person. Great painters, musicians, and writers are imaginative. However, being imaginative isn’t just limited to the arts. When you're imaginative, you can develop a unique solution to a problem or issue. For example, an imaginative engineer might develop a new, more efficient way to construct a bridge. An idea or object that’s fresh and original — like that bridge the engineer designed — can also be described as imaginative.
Vocabulary lists containing imaginative
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Literary Terms, Part I
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Writing - Middle School
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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.
Imaginative as these scenarios were, few people took them seriously.
From Salon • Oct. 8, 2023
Imaginative play with Barbies does the same thing: generations of children experiment with ways the world could be.
From Scientific American • Jul. 21, 2023
Imaginative, beautiful and mentally expanding games where being “better than Daddy” isn’t really a thing.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2020
A version of this article appears in print on February 6, 2014, on page C6 of the with the headline: Jeff Westheimer’s Imaginative Play at Bridge Semifinals.
From New York Times • Feb. 5, 2014
Imaginative writers filled the old Teutonic forests with Bards and Druids and cherished an enthusiastic admiration for Gothic cathedrals and for the knights of the Middle Ages and of the sixteenth century.
From A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century by Beers, Henry A. (Henry Augustin)
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.
