Synonyms

visualize

American

[vizh-oo-uh-lahyz] / ˈvɪʒ u əˌlaɪz /

especially British, visualise

verb (used without object)

to recall or form mental images or pictures.

verb (used with object)

to make visual or visible.
to form a mental image of.
to make perceptible to the mind or imagination.

visualize British

/ ˈvɪʒʊəˌlaɪz, -zjʊ- /

verb

to form a mental image of (something incapable of being viewed or not at that moment visible)
med to view by means of an X-ray the outline of (a bodily organ, structure, or part)

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

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Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing visualize

Common Senses: Vid, Vis ("See")

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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.

See Examples For:

visualize visualizes visualized visualizing

I laughed trying to visualize what she said.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

In situations where she is doing a new stunt for the first time, Dalton tries to visualize everything that can go wrong and prepare to react to it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

"I recently tested this out on a scene and the ability to visualize and immediately share the storyboard was creatively freeing," he added.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026

The hand signs are very much associated with the Kodály method, which uses the hand signs to help children visualize the spatial relationship between notes.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

In this masterpiece of Japanese painting, Shōhaku visualizes his version of an old Chinese legend.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

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

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

From Science Daily ● Dec. 19, 2023

On Thursday and Friday, he watches tape, drills down on names and pronunciations, and visualizes specific scenarios.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2023

Frankly I do not know, but I think it is that the church visualizes Canada's ideal in a vision.

From The Canadian Commonwealth by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut

As he visualized Obi-Wan’s sacrifice and the Mos Eisley cantina, he drew associations between sounds and environments that have informed his creative choices ever since.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

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

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

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2025

When I had thought of heaven as a child, I visualized Papa’s room, the softness, the creaminess, the endlessness.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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

No film since Jonathan Glazer’s wizardly “The Zone of Interest” has wielded such a meticulously controlled formal approach to visualizing the insidiousness of moral rot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

I’m looking at the huge oak tree out by the parking lot and creatively visualizing climbing it.

From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023