visualize
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to make visual or visible.
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to form a mental image of.
-
to make perceptible to the mind or imagination.
verb
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to form a mental image of (something incapable of being viewed or not at that moment visible)
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med to view by means of an X-ray the outline of (a bodily organ, structure, or part)
Other Word Forms
- nonvisualized adjective
- revisualization noun
- revisualize verb
- unvisualized adjective
- visualist noun
- visualizable adjective
- visualization noun
- visualizer noun
- well-visualized adjective
Etymology
Origin of visualize
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.
Vocabulary lists containing visualize
Common Senses: Vid, Vis ("See")
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Hatchet
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STAAR Grade 8 Reading: The Language of the Test, List 3
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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.
Albayram previously helped visualize these meningeal lymphatic vessels in humans, as reported in a 2022 Nature Communications study.
From Science Daily • Apr. 9, 2026
Users can deploy Claude to chat, generate code, visualize data, search the web, or create content, among other tasks.
From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026
Better analytics and ways to visualize what athletes’ bodies are doing could bring more fans and democratize training for those who don’t have access to top-notch coaches.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
Try to visualize how the party looked, but from a different angle.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
It is natural but wrong to visualize the singularity as a kind of pregnant dot hanging in a dark, boundless void.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
