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imaginary Definition

imagi·nary (i maji ner′ē)

adjective

  1. existing only in the imagination; fanciful; unreal
  2. Math. designating or of the square root of a negative quantity, or of a complex number that is not real

Etymology: L imaginarius

imaginary Related Forms

imagi·nar′i·ly adverb imagi·nar′i·ness noun

imaginary Synonyms

imaginary

modif.

imaginary Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • aunt: The teacher asked the pupils to solve a money problem involving an imaginary rich aunt.
  • playmate: In children, the symptoms are not attributable to imaginary playmates or other fantasy play.
  • ailment: In spite of me telling her to keep the chat soley about G/D She ignores that and starts chatting about all her imaginary ailments.
  • friend: You could also ask, gently, about imaginary friends: Do the children have them?
  • conversation: It is also reasonable to have imaginary conversations with those for whom we grieve perhaps by using a treasured photograph.
  • creature: For children in Year 3 upwards we would like them to design and make an imaginary sea creature.

Modifying Another Word

  • purely: Any colors seen in films or in books are purely imaginary.
  • wholly: The wholly imaginary landscapes of the essayist and painter Cecil Collins had attained their conviction in the 1930s through sheer invention.
  • largely: Actually, this threat was largely imaginary, or at the very least negligible.
  • entirely: Of course the character could be entirely imaginary - in which case MacMillan would probably enjoy the speculation.
  • only: Thus present itself being only imaginary, past and future are equally so.
  • not: Here was a real translation, a transportation from place to place, not imaginary, for then Christ had been in no danger.

Used with adjective complement

consider: I'd say that that's a pretty good reason why your so-called jesus could be considered imaginary.

Browse dictionary entries near imaginary

  1. imaginal
  2. imaginable
  3. imagery
  4. image orthicon
  5. image-maker
  6. image decimation
  7. image
  8. IMA
  9. im-
  10. IM
  1. imaginary number
  2. imaginary part
  3. imaginary unit
  4. imagination
  5. imaginative
  6. imagine
  7. imagined
  8. imaging
  9. imagism
  10. imago