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

"I went, 'I want to do this. I can't imagine going through school and A-Levels in Swansea.'"

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Marco Estrada, 20, taking a break outside the Main Street barbershop where he works in Delano, said he wasn’t sure he could imagine anything Congress could do for him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

For some, it may be hard to imagine that Coltrane and Davis were born in the same year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

"The domestic market is dead, there are people who go into debt to buy food so just imagine trying to buy shoes," Kioshi director Emmanuel Fernandez explained.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

A great many people, however, when they hear the rapping imagine at once that the spirits are touching them.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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

One imagines Mike Rogers has enjoyed a lovely Michigan summer.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

Jeselnik, 47, imagines his comedy career is winding down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Non-milk drinkers, one imagines, would be less likely to work at domesticating milk-giving animals.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Could you have imagined still doing this now when you founded the label?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

"It went kind of exactly how I imagined it. He was going to try and put pressure on me straight away," Garcia said afterwards.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Few organizations had imagined the destruction of an entire financial district, the loss of personnel, technology, communications and records, and the need to preserve public confidence while much of the city’s infrastructure had ceased functioning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

"Their platforms and tools have infiltrated our daily lives in ways that we could never have imagined," she told reporters on Tuesday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

I imagined we were out to gather stones for his wall, that the sliver of moon was a bit of the sun, and I started to run.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

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

This happens to me periodically, usually when the weather changes and I begin imagining that a new season might also produce a new personality.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

The latest shows aren’t imagining a dystopian future a la Netflix’s futuristic “Black Mirror” anthology series.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

"When I bite into this, I feel like I'm about to land in Trinidad and I'm looking out of the window at the beauty," he says, still with his eyes closed, imagining it.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Maybe I’m imagining it, but my head starts to ache, probably from the wireless signals.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy