visualize

American  

[vizh-oo-uh-lahyz] / ˈvɪʒ u əˌlaɪz /

especially British, visualise

verb (used without object)

• visualizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• visualized,
  past participle,  past
• visualizing
  present participle

1. 

   to recall or form mental images or pictures.

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verb (used with object)

• visualizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• visualized,
  past participle,  past
• visualizing
  present participle

1. to make visual or visible.

2. to form a mental image of.

3. to make perceptible to the mind or imagination.

visualize British  

/ 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)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• revisualization
  noun
• visualist
  noun
• visualization
  noun
• visualizer
  noun
• revisualize
  verb
• nonvisualized
  adjective
• unvisualized
  adjective
• visualizable
  adjective
• well-visualized
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• visualizing
  present
• visualized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• visualize
  simple
• visualizes
  simple
• have visualized
  perfect
• has visualized
  perfect
• am visualizing
  progressive
• are visualizing
  progressive
• is visualizing
  progressive
• have been visualizing
  perfect progressive
• has been visualizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• visualized
  simple
• had visualized
  perfect
• was visualizing
  progressive
• were visualizing
  progressive
• had been visualizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will visualize
  simple
• will have visualized
  perfect
• will be visualizing
  progressive
• will have been visualizing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of visualize

First recorded in 1810–20; visual + -ize

Explanation

To visualize something is to be able to see it in your mind. From the twitching in their feet, it seems that sleeping dogs often visualize a fenced-in area and about 30 squirrels. Visualizing is a lot like imagining — both involve picturing something in your mind. But while imagine has the sense of wondering and exploring, when you visualize something, your hope is to make it real. Basketball players visualize themselves making a shot to help them sink the basketball in the hoop. Visualize yourself getting the job as you're going in to be interviewed and your chances for success will increase.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

visualize visualizes visualized visualizing

To understand his journey, you have to go back years and visualize the scene from his days as an 11-year-old.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

I laughed trying to visualize what she said.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

The company unveiled the feature as a way to "visualize history, create real estate plans and more."

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

When you hear a series of crisp, reverberating smacks outside your window, you visualize your neighbor’s child bouncing a basketball down the street.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

It was too strange to visualize, too bizarre to even consider.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

The image also visualizes the star’s magnetic field lines, highlighting the magnetic connection between the star and the planet.

From Space Scoop ● Jul. 17, 2025

Rope strung between the space’s many columns visualizes where walls will appear.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 16, 2024

X-ray imaging visualizes hidden structures and processes in living cells and organisms.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 19, 2023

That fragile gleaming pixel reshaped how humanity visualizes its place in the Cosmos.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 18, 2023

If I ask the psychic to close his eyes and I say to him, "Horse," he immediately visualizes a horse.

From The Best Ghost Stories by Various

I would see his name credited as a writer and I always visualized that someday I wanted to be in the back cover of an album.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026

The Journal visualized the scene with 3-D modeling software using diagrams from vehicle manufacturers, open-source mapping data, crime-scene photos, court documents and interviews with firearms experts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

“I just visualized it, and when you do that, it slows you down. It put me in a good mindset.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2025

For the first time we've pulled them out and visualized them from the human brain.

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2025

I visualized how I would stand on my toes, the sooner to see his face.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Motivated by both needs, researchers at Kyoto University developed a new technique for visualizing this difficult-to-observe region.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Still, the streaming giant seems to be focusing mainly on the edges of production -- from visualizing a concept early on to color-grading footage after filming wraps.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

You will often see Wembanyama close his eyes before free throws, visualizing the swish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

Directly visualizing how MraZ interacts with the promoter DNA that initiates cell division represents a significant breakthrough.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2026

New Sky Trails employee saves passenger on first day on job, she thought to herself, imagining the praise and congratulations—and maybe the raise—she’d be sure to receive if what she was visualizing was real.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• anticipate
• dream up
• envision