imaginary
[adjective]
Synonyms: fictional, fictitious, hypothetical, illusory, imagined, invented, made-up, nonexistent, unreal

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Antonyms: actual, real
Contrasted words: genuine, true, valid
Related Words: imaginative, abstract, hypothetical, ideal, visionary, apparitional, chimerical, fantastic, figmental, hallucinatory, illusory, phantasmal, phantasmic, quixotic, spectral, unreal, unsubstantial

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

i‧ma‧gi‧na‧ry /ɪˈmædʒənəri, ɪˈmædʒɪnəri $ -neri/ adjective
[Word Family: adjective: imaginable ≠ unimaginable, imaginary, imaginative ≠ unimaginative, unimagined; noun: imagination, imaginings; adverb: unimaginably, imaginatively; verb: imagine]
not real, but produced from pictures or ideas in your mind ⇒ fictional:
As she listened, she played an imaginary piano on her knees.
We must protect older people from harm, whether it is real or imaginary.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

imaginary
adj.
VERBS be
ADV. completely, purely, wholly The characters in this book are purely imaginary.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

imaginary
adjective
BAD: People tend to become less imaginary as they grow older.
GOOD: People tend to become less imaginative as they grow older.

Usage Note:
imaginary = not existing in real life but only in someone's mind: 'This new novel takes the reader on an imaginary journey into space.' 'The little boy kept firing an imaginary gun at me.'
imaginative = having or showing a powerful imagination: 'She is one of the most imaginative designers of her generation.' 'His paintings tend to be highly imaginative.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲