visualize

[ vizh-oo-uh-lahyz ]
See synonyms for: visualizevisualization on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),vis·u·al·ized, vis·u·al·iz·ing.
  1. to recall or form mental images or pictures.

verb (used with object),vis·u·al·ized, vis·u·al·iz·ing.
  1. to make visual or visible.

  2. to form a mental image of.

  1. to make perceptible to the mind or imagination.

Origin of visualize

1
First recorded in 1810–20; visual + -ize
  • Also especially British, vis·u·al·ise .

Other words from visualize

  • vis·u·al·iz·a·ble, adjective
  • vis·u·al·i·za·tion, noun
  • vis·u·al·iz·er, vis·u·al·ist, noun
  • non·vis·u·al·ized, adjective
  • re·vis·u·al·i·za·tion, noun
  • re·vis·u·al·ize, verb, re·vis·u·al·ized, re·vis·u·al·iz·ing.
  • un·vis·u·al·ized, adjective
  • well-vis·u·al·ized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use visualize in a sentence

  • The dear sailor brothers I can't quite visualise; I can only see them looking so upright and pale when we said good-bye.

    Carry On | Coningsby Dawson
  • Even in London a man saw and heard and was able, if he had an imagination, to visualise too much to remain quite normal.

    Robin | Frances Hodgson Burnett
  • “Yes,” said Bertram, and tried to visualise that rush at the belching Maxim.

    Cupid in Africa | P. C. Wren
  • They always visualise sin in its horror in a way that is beyond most of us, and we can respect their gloom.

  • Perhaps the quickest way to visualise the differences of nations is to imagine them exchanging countries.

    A Wanderer in Holland | E. V. Lucas

British Dictionary definitions for visualize

visualize

visualise

/ (ˈvɪʒʊəˌlaɪz, -zjʊ-) /


verb
  1. to form a mental image of (something incapable of being viewed or not at that moment visible)

  2. med to view by means of an X-ray the outline of (a bodily organ, structure, or part)

Derived forms of visualize

  • visualizer or visualiser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012