visualize

American  

[vizh-oo-uh-lahyz] / ˈvɪʒ u əˌlaɪz /

especially British, visualise

verb (used without object)

visualized, visualizing

1. to recall or form mental images or pictures.

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verb (used with object)

visualized, visualizing

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

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

Etymology

Origin of visualize

First recorded in 1810–20; visual + -ize

Example Sentences

This new model could give scientists a powerful way to study rotating gravitational systems and better understand pulsars, which are typically difficult to visualize directly.

From Science Daily • Mar. 28, 2026

Regardless of the muted market reaction, lidar technology—which is essentially laser-based radar—used by cars and machines to visualize their environment, is maturing.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

Try to visualize how the party looked, but from a different angle.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026

Mr. Bailey’s suggestions for maximizing productivity include drawing an “intention stack” to help visualize how goals, spread out over time, exist in relation to one another.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 1, 2026

I tried to visualize the day I would visit her at her convent.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger

Related Words

• anticipate
• dream up
• envision