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Glite Dictionary
🤔 To picture mentally 💭 To suppose
to imagine

to imagine

∞ 1.3
To form a picture in your mind of something not real
  • verb
  • /ɪˈmædʒɪn/
translation icon : imaginar
  • Close your eyes and imagine that you are five years old.
  • hard to imagine
  • difficult to imagine
  • an imagined community

So I want you to try and imagine an apple.

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Examples

  • Just try to imagine being there that day.

  • Imagine what I had to do to be the greatest of all time.

    HIM (2025)

  • So I want you to try and imagine an apple.

    Philosophy Tube

  • So can you actually imagine living in the White House?

  • Look at it in there and just imagine it looking like that.

  • And if you can imagine this amazing person.

  • Okay, now imagine the thing you wanna make.

    Jacket (2018)

  • Can you imagine the cost?

    The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

  • Ask the students to imagine other ways in which a song collage could be created.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Close your eyes and imagine that you are standing on a beautiful beach.

Synonyms

to think
vsto imagine
∞ 1.0

To imagine or plan something in your mind

is specifically about forming visual or mental images rather than general thought
to see
vsto imagine
∞ 1.0

To picture something in your mind

is broader, covering ideas not only vivid visual images
to picture
vsto imagine
343 2.9

To imagine how something looks

is more general, including nonvisual ideas or concepts
to envision
vsto imagine
164 4.1

To picture something in your mind, often a possible future

is neutral, covering any mental scene not focused on future
to visualize
vsto imagine
  • US
75 3.8

Form a clear picture of something in your mind

is general and can mean any mental idea not only visual ones
to conceive
vsto imagine
74 5.2

To form an idea or plan in your mind

is more basic, meaning to form simple mental images or ideas
to dream up
vsto imagine
  • Informal
38 3.9

To think of a new or unusual idea

is broader, applying to any formed mental image, not just inventions
to conceive of
vsto imagine
33 5.3

To imagine something as possible or real

is about forming any mental image, not necessarily judging possibility
to make believe
vsto imagine
17 3.8

Pretend something is real for fun or play

is more general, covering any mental image beyond playful pretending
to conceptualize
vsto imagine
12 6.9

To form an idea in your mind about something

focuses more on simple mental images rather than abstract theory
to envisage
vsto imagine
11 6.8

To form a picture in your mind of something not present

focuses more generally on any mental image, not only possibilities
to ideate
vsto imagine
8.4

To think of new ideas

is simpler, meaning to form an image or basic idea, not only invent

How Vivid

to fantasize
  • US
126 4.5
to visualize
  • US
75 3.8
to envision
164 4.1
to imagine
∞ 1.3
to picture
343 2.9

Surface Forms

imagine infinitive
imagined past
imagined past participle
imagining present participle
imagines third person singular

Etymology

The word imagine comes from the Latin imago, which means 'image' and is the same root as the English word image. So to imagine is to 'make an image' in your mind, which is why it means forming a mental picture of something not present.