mental picture
8
3.5
- noun
- /ˈmɛntəl ˈpɪktʃər/
:
imagen mental
- And at the door, I turned to look back, to take one last mental picture of my dear mother.
- paints a mental picture
- form a mental picture
- create a mental picture
And before I do so, I would like to, well, make a mental picture just for a moment.
- And before I do so, I would like to, well, make a mental picture just for a moment.
- How Einstein created mental pictures that he later put into what he called thought experiments, and how Baby Einstein proved to be a fraud.
Examples
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Together, Jessica and I painted a mental picture, a broad vision really, of what the space could look like.
Academic text (2015) -
See if you can get a mental picture of her.
-
And before I do so, I would like to, well, make a mental picture just for a moment.
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OK, I want to give you one more mental picture to think about what this is doing.
-
Remember when I told you to get a mental picture in your head?
-
Take a mental picture of it.
-
We had a mental picture; at least I did.
Academic text (2012) -
In a few years, we find the mental picture completely changed.
Blog text (21) -
I'm making a mental picture of it in my mind.
-
When she described the sunset, I could easily form a mental picture of the beautiful colors she mentioned.
Synonyms
445
3.3
A picture you form in your mind from words or ideas
279
2.0
A clear image in your mind of something
7
3.8
A picture you make in your mind of something not there
4
3.8
A picture in your mind of something you have seen
1
6.7
An idea in your mind that stands for something you remember or imagine
An image you make in your mind when you imagine something
Antonyms
How Vivid
8
3.5
7
3.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an image or impression formed in the mind' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'mental' (pertaining to the mind) with 'picture' (an image). This compositional, cross-linguistically common noun-noun pattern uses ordinary senses of both words, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase mental picture comes from the simple idea of a mental 'in the mind' picture, like a small photo you imagine in your head. So, when you imagine a scene clearly you are making a 'mental picture', which is why the phrase means 'a clear image in the mind'.