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to visualize

to visualize

75 3.8
Form a clear picture of something in your mind
  • verb
  • /ˈvɪʒuəˌlaɪz/
  • US
translation icon : imaginar
  • To help with my goal, I often visualize myself succeeding and achieving my dreams.
  • help students visualize
  • visualize what you read
  • students visualize

Well, let me just dream and let's visualize all of it.

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Examples

  • Before we do the problem, let's try to visualize what's going on.

  • Students can be shown the drawing first before being asked to visualize what it would look like.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Everybody could, you know, sort of visualize what this meant, right?

  • Now visualize a light of the color associated with your goal.

  • Just try to visualize it.

  • As I enter the school for the first time, I will visualize what it will be like on the last day of my senior year.

  • Jake, visualize where you want the ball to go and drill it.

  • Passage was easier to complete and understand because I could visualize what the author described.

    Academic text (2015)
  • When exploring the human hand, consider the best way to visualize the parts for discussion.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Concept Mapping: Concept maps demonstrate how people visualize relationships between various concepts.

    Academic text (2012)

Synonyms

to see
vsto visualize
1.0

To picture something in your mind

is used to form a clearer, more detailed mental image in the mind
to imagine
vsto visualize
1.3

To form a picture in your mind of something not real

leans toward making a formed mental image rather than only a general idea
to picture
vsto visualize
343 2.9

To imagine how something looks

is more about deliberately producing a formed mental image
to envision
vsto visualize
164 4.1

To picture something in your mind, often a possible future

is used more generally for making mental images, not limited to future cases
to fancy
vsto visualize
52 4.4

To imagine something as possible

is used for forming a clearer, intentional mental image rather than mere speculation
to conceive of
vsto visualize
33 5.3

To imagine something as possible or real

emphasizes making a formed mental image rather than just having an abstract idea
to envisage
vsto visualize
11 6.8

To form a picture in your mind of something not present

is a general term for forming mental images, not only for possibilities

How Vivid

to envision
164 4.1
to visualize
  • US
75 3.8
to picture
343 2.9
to imagine
1.3

Surface Forms

visualize infinitive
visualized past
visualized past participle
visualizing present participle
visualizes third person singular

Morphology

visualize = visual (transparent) = visual + ize

The mental-imagery sense is a common, compositional extension of 'visual' + '-ize' meaning 'make visual (in the mind)'.

Etymology

Visualize also uses the same parts visual 'related to seeing' and -ize 'make', so a helpful way to remember it is 'to make a picture' in your mind. That's why to visualize can mean to imagine or to 'see' something inside your head.