imagine

American  

[ih-maj-in] / ɪˈmædʒ ɪn /

verb (used with object)

• imagines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• imagined,
  past participle,  past
• imagining
  present participle

1. to form a mental image of (something not actually present to the senses).

   Synonyms:

   picture, image

2. to think, believe, or fancy.

   He imagined the house was haunted.

3. to assume; suppose.

   I imagine they'll be here soon.

4. to conjecture; guess.

   I cannot imagine what you mean.

5. Archaic. to plan, scheme, or plot.

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verb (used without object)

• imagines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• imagined,
  past participle,  past
• imagining
  present participle

1. to form mental images of things not present to the senses; use the imagination.

2. to suppose; think; conjecture.

imagine British  

/ ɪˈmædʒɪn /

verb

1. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to form a mental image of

2. (when tr, may take a clause as object) to think, believe, or guess

3. (tr; takes a clause as object) to suppose; assume

   I imagine he'll come

4. (tr; takes a clause as object) to believe or assume without foundation

   he imagines he knows the whole story

5. an archaic word for plot 1

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1. Also: imagine that!. an exclamation of surprise

Usage

What does imagine mean? To imagine is to form a mental likeness of something or someone not present, as in Imagine flying in a rocket to Mars. To imagine also means to think of something, especially in a way that it is not currently, as in Imagine what the house might look like after all these years. To imagine is also to assume, as in Oh dear, the teacher imagined that we all did our homework. Finally, to imagine can mean to guess, as in Can you imagine what it would be like for it to snow in the summer?Example: I can’t imagine they will take much longer, so we should just wait here.

Synonym Usage

Imagine, conceive, conceive of, realize refer to bringing something before the mind. To imagine is, literally, to form a mental image of something: to imagine yourself in London. To conceive is to form something by using one's imagination: How has the author conceived the first act of his play? To conceive of is to comprehend through the intellect something not perceived through the senses: Wilson conceived of a world free from war. To realize is to make an imagined thing real or concrete to oneself, to grasp fully its implications: to realize the extent of one's folly.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• imaginer
  noun
• preimagine
  verb (used with object)
• reimagine
  verb (used with object)
• imaginable
  adjective
• unimagined
  adjective
• well-imagined
  adjective
• imaginably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• imagining
  present
• imagined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• imagine
  simple
• imagines
  simple
• have imagined
  perfect
• has imagined
  perfect
• am imagining
  progressive
• are imagining
  progressive
• is imagining
  progressive
• have been imagining
  perfect progressive
• has been imagining
  perfect progressive

Past

• imagined
  simple
• had imagined
  perfect
• was imagining
  progressive
• were imagining
  progressive
• had been imagining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will imagine
  simple
• will have imagined
  perfect
• will be imagining
  progressive
• will have been imagining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of imagine

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English imaginen from Middle French imaginer from Latin imāginārī, equivalent to imāgin- (stem of imāgō ) image + -ā- thematic vowel + -rī infinitive ending

Explanation

To imagine something is to picture it in your head. When we imagine things, we're using our imagination. The word image is a good clue to the meaning of imagine, a word for picturing or envisioning things. You could imagine you're a king, an astronaut, a firefighter, or a coyote. You could imagine the earth getting hit by an asteroid. If you can think of it, you can imagine it. Sometimes, imagining means believing or guessing. For example, your teacher could say, "Did you really imagine there would be no homework?"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

imagine imagines imagined imagining

Environmental damage, plastic waste and the conformity of suburbia prompted designers and countercultural communities to imagine other ways of living — up to a point.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

It is hard to imagine anyone went home disappointed, no matter what price they paid.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

So, one could imagine what he must think today about a real fed-funds rate of roughly 50 bps — more than 300 bps lower.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 4, 2026

While I am not agreeing with Mr. Lederman’s essay, I would imagine that Cornell students who have any views about potential differences between men and women will hesitate before stating them publicly at this point.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

I couldn’t imagine what she meant by that and wondered if I was supposed to ask.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

He imagines Meta has been working on the camera-free glasses for several years, and the current backlash over privacy provides "fantastic timing" for their release.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

I am not the fan that the NFL pictures when it imagines its fans.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

But a new research note imagines much of those unfilled jobs will go to humanoid robots.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Whether the added punctuation has the effect the author imagines, she’s not wrong to point out that editorial decisions, once made, tend “to stick, informing how future readers will interpret a story or character.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

She imagines that her love can rise farther than that, much farther, up into the universe, into unreachable places, and to unreachable people.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

The home was imagined as both shelter and command center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

"We couldn't ever have imagined this but every day there's something new happening in flag football that blows my mind."

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Jacob Tremblay embodies a young Kaczynski almost exactly as I have imagined him, minus the smiling and the forging of his mother’s signature.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

“What’s been exciting is seeing it resonate well beyond the athletes we initially imagined wearing it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

This is more like the reunion I imagined, full of apologies and tears and hugs that don’t last long enough.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

This record hasn’t stopped critics from imagining donors in dark rooms using the civic-dialogue movement to further their own nefarious ends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

She may also have to devote precious time to the practical task of showcasing the condo for sale, and emptying years of living that would prevent a buyer from imagining themselves living there.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Maybe I’m imagining things, but considering that the performances of both teams were equally awful, everyone is really blasting the Chargers while making lots of excuses for the Rams.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Often, the challenge is not imagining how life could produce a signal, but understanding all the ways nature might produce something similar without life.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 9, 2026

I close my eyes, imagining my hand in Lita’s, piñon smoke drifting into the New Mexico sky.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera