imagine
[verb]
Synonyms:
- envisage, conceive, conceptualize, conjure up, picture, plan, think of, think up, visualize
- believe, assume, conjecture, fancy, guess (informal, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), infer, suppose, surmise, suspect, take it, think

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English Thesaurus: imagine, visualize, picture, envisage, conceive of something, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

i‧ma‧gine S1 W2 /ɪˈmædʒən, ɪˈmædʒɪn/ verb [transitive]
[Word Family: adjective: imaginable ≠ unimaginable, imaginary, imaginative ≠ unimaginative, unimagined; noun: imagination, imaginings; adverb: unimaginably, imaginatively; verb: imagine]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: French; Origin: imaginer, from Latin imaginari, from imago; ⇒ image]

1. to form a picture or idea in your mind about what something could be like
imagine (that)
Imagine that you have just won a million pounds.
Imagine life without hot water.
imagine what/how/why etc
Can you imagine what it’s like when it’s really hot out here in Delhi?
imagine somebody doing something
She could imagine dark-robed figures moving silently along the stone corridors.
(just) imagine doing something
Imagine doing a horrible job like that!
Just imagine going all that way for nothing!
imagine somebody/something as something
He didn’t quite dare to imagine himself as a real artist.
imagine somebody in/with/without etc something
Somehow, I can’t imagine him without a beard.
it’s difficult/easy/possible/impossible etc to imagine something
After such a dry summer, it’s difficult to imagine what rain looks like.

2. to have a false or wrong idea about something:
Perhaps she’d never really been there at all – perhaps she’d just imagined it.
imagined dangers
imagine (that)
She had imagined that the doctor would be male.
I was surprised when I saw the farm. I had imagined it would be much bigger.
imagine something/somebody to be something
There’s nobody here. You’re just imagining things.

3. [not in progressive] to think that something is true or may happen, but without being sure or having proof:
‘A very complicated subject, I imagine,’ said Edwin.
imagine (that)
You are obviously tired and I imagine that nothing would make you admit it.

4. you can/can’t imagine something British English spoken used to emphasize how good, bad etc something is
You can/can’t imagine how/what/why etc
You can imagine how angry I was!
You can’t imagine what a terrible week we had.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

imagine
verb
I. form a picture of sth in your mind
ADV. clearly, easily, readily I could clearly imagine the scene in the office.
hardly, scarcely I could hardly imagine living in such a remote and desolate spot.
just She could just imagine her mother's look of horror.
actually I can't actually imagine her falling for that trick.
always I always imagined him following in his father's footsteps.
fondly, naively I had fondly imagined that riding a mule would be easy.
VERB + IMAGINE can/could (well) I can well imagine the atmosphere at home at this moment.
can/could not (possibly) There's more at stake here than you can possibly imagine.
try to | be difficult to, be hard to, be impossible to It is difficult to imagine Blackpool without its famous Tower.
be easy to
PHRASES let us imagine Let us imagine what really might have happened.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

imagine
II. see/hear/think sth that is not true/does not exist
ADV. really, seriously You don't seriously imagine I'll agree to that?
almost I could almost imagine you were jealous.
actually | fondly, naively
VERB + IMAGINE be easy to
PHRASES be imagining things Had I really heard a noise, or was I just imagining things?
real or imagined He was always keen to avenge insults, real or imagined.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

imagine

be easy to imagine
It’s easy to imagine how the change in the law caused a lot of confusion.
be hard/difficult to imagine
It’s hard to imagine the suffering she must have gone through.
can easily imagine
I can easily imagine how frightening the accident must have been.
can well imagine (=can easily imagine)
I can well imagine how delighted you were with the news.
can hardly/scarcely imagine (=find it difficult to imagine)
He could scarcely imagine what living in such poor conditions must have been like.
can’t/couldn’t imagine
He couldn’t imagine life without his wife.
what somebody had imagined (=what someone thought something would be like, before they saw it or experienced it)
The office was not what he had imagined.
be bigger/smaller/worse etc than you had imagined
The job interview proved to be much worse than I had imagined it would be.
let us imagine … (=used to encourage someone else to think about a possibility)
Let us imagine that you are an employer who wants to recruit some new staff.
somebody is imagining things (=someone has a false or wrong idea about something)
She’s imagining things if she thinks she has a chance of winning the prize.
naively imagine (=to imagine something without realizing how complicated the situation is)
She had naively imagined that marriage would solve all her problems.
fondly imagine (=to believe something that is untrue)
He had fondly imagined that she was in love with him.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

imagine to form a picture or idea in your mind about what something might be like:
When I think of Honolulu, I imagine long white beaches and palm trees.
I can’t really imagine being a millionaire.
visualize to form a picture of someone or something in your mind, especially something that is definitely going to happen or exist in the future:
Anna visualized meeting Greg again at the airport.
The finished house may be hard to visualize.
picture to form a clear picture of something or someone in your mind:
I can still picture my father, even though he died a long time ago.
The town was just how she had pictured it from his description.
envisage /ɪnˈvɪzɪdʒ/ especially British English, envision to imagine something as possible or likely to happen in the future:
How do you envisage your career developing over the next ten years?
They had envisioned the creation of a single armed force, small but efficient.
conceive of something formal to imagine a situation, especially one that is difficult to imagine:
For many people, music is so important that they cannot conceive of life without it.
fantasize to imagine something exciting that you would like to happen, but that is very unlikely to happen:
I used to fantasize about becoming a film star.
daydream to imagine pleasant things, so that you forget where you are and what you should be doing:
Mark began to daydream, and didn’t even hear the teacher’s question.
hallucinate to imagine that you are seeing things that are not really there, especially because you are ill or have taken drugs:
The drug that can cause some people to hallucinate.
When I saw the walls moving, I thought I must be hallucinating.
dream the thoughts, images, and feelings that go through your mind while you are asleep:
I had a strange dream last night -- you and I were in some sort of forest.
nightmare a very unpleasant and frightening dream:
She still has terrible nightmares about the accident.
reverie formal a state of imagining or thinking about pleasant things, that is like dreaming:
The doorbell rang, shaking her from her reverie.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

picture shapes, lines etc painted or drawn on a surface, especially as a piece of art, and often showing what someone or something looks like:
a picture of a horse
He painted the picture in 1890, just before he died.
drawing a picture drawn with a pencil, pen etc:
We had to do a drawing of a sunflower.
sketch a picture that is drawn quickly:
I made a quick sketch of the kind of room we wanted.
painting a picture made using paint:
The painting now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art.
Picasso did several paintings of her.
portrait a picture of a person:
The portrait was painted by Rembrandt.
landscape a picture of a place, especially in the countryside or the mountains:
Constable painted mainly landscapes.
cartoon a funny drawing in a newspaper or magazine that tells a story or a joke:
A cartoon in the New York Times showed the President talking to Osama Bin Laden.
comic strip a series of pictures drawn inside boxes that tell a story:
Charles Schultz was famous for his cartoon strip about Snoopy and Charlie Brown.
caricature a funny drawing of someone that makes a part of someone’s face or body look bigger, worse etc than it really is, especially in a funny way:
He is famous for his caricatures of politicans.
illustration a picture in a book:
The book has over 100 pages of illustrations, most of them in colour.
poster a large picture printed on paper that you stick to a wall as decoration:
old movie posters
There were lots of posters of pop bands on her bedroom wall.
print a picture that is usually produced on a printing press, and is one of a series of copies of the same picture:
a limited edition of lithographic prints by John Lennon
image a picture – used especially when talking about what the picture is like, or the effect it has on you:
He produced some memorable images.
a beautiful image
Some of the images are deeply disturbing.
artwork pictures or photographs, especially ones that have been produced to be used in a book or magazine:
We are still waiting for the artwork to come back from the printers.
imagine to form a picture or idea in your mind about what something might be like:
When I think of Honolulu, I imagine long white beaches and palm trees.
I can’t really imagine being a millionaire.
visualize to form a picture of someone or something in your mind, especially something that is definitely going to happen or exist in the future:
Anna visualized meeting Greg again at the airport.
The finished house may be hard to visualize.
envisage /ɪnˈvɪzɪdʒ/ especially British English, envision to imagine something as possible or likely to happen in the future:
How do you envisage your career developing over the next ten years?
They had envisioned the creation of a single armed force, small but efficient.
conceive of something formal to imagine a situation, especially one that is difficult to imagine:
For many people, music is so important that they cannot conceive of life without it.
fantasize to imagine something exciting that you would like to happen, but that is very unlikely to happen:
I used to fantasize about becoming a film star.
daydream to imagine pleasant things, so that you forget where you are and what you should be doing:
Mark began to daydream, and didn’t even hear the teacher’s question.
hallucinate to imagine that you are seeing things that are not really there, especially because you are ill or have taken drugs:
The drug that can cause some people to hallucinate.
When I saw the walls moving, I thought I must be hallucinating.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲