What does "image" mean?
A visual or other representation of the external form of something in art.
Image
/ˈɪm.ɪd͡ʒ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A visual or other representation of the external form of something in art.
- Grammar: image is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: picture, abstract, abstraction, adumbrate.
- Useful contrasts: bad reputation, conceal, disrepute.
- Usage evidence: I asked the student what image he had of black people.
How to use "image"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "image" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "image" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "image" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "image" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "image" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "picture" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "image", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A visual or other representation of the external form of something in art.
"The Bible forbids the worship of graven images."
- 2 a representation of a person (especially in the form of sculpture) wordnet
- 3 A mental picture of something not real or not present.
"Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future, however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food."
- 4 a visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface wordnet
- 5 A statue or idol.
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 the general impression that something (a person or organization or product) presents to the public wordnet
- 7 A file that contains all information needed to produce a live working copy. (See disk image and image copy.)
"Most game console emulators do not come with any ROM images for copyright reasons."
- 8 (Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world wordnet
- 9 A characteristic of a person, group or company etc., style, manner of dress, how one is or wishes to be perceived by others.
- 10 an iconic mental representation wordnet
- 11 The value a function maps some argument to.
"The number 6 is the image of 3 under f that is defined as f(x) = 2x."
- 12 a standard or typical example wordnet
- 13 The subset of the codomain of a function comprising those elements that are the image of some element of its domain.
"The image of this step function is the set of integers."
- 14 language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense wordnet
- 15 A form of interference: a weaker "copy" of a strong signal that occurs at a different frequency.
- 16 (mathematics) the set of values of the dependent variable for which a function is defined wordnet
- 17 Show; appearance; cast. obsolete
"The face of things a frightful image bears."
- 18 someone who closely resembles a famous person (especially an actor) wordnet
Verb
- 1 To represent by an image or symbol; to portray. transitive
"1718, Alexander Pope, The Iliad of Homer, London: Bernard Lintot, Volume IV, Observations on the Fifteenth Book, Note 14 on verse 252, p. 215, This Representation of the Terrors which must have attended the Conflict of two such mighty Powers as Jupiter and Neptune, whereby the Elements had been mix’d in Confusion, and the whole Frame of Nature endangered, is imaged in these few Lines with a Nobleness suitable to the Occasion."
- 2 imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind wordnet
- 3 To reflect, mirror. transitive
"See’st thou yon river, whose translucent wave, Forth issuing from the darkness, windeth through The argent streets o’ th’ City, imaging The soft inversion of her tremulous Domes,"
- 4 render visible, as by means of MRI wordnet
- 5 To create an image of. transitive
"The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To create a complete backup copy of a file system or other entity. transitive
Example
"I asked the student what image he had of black people."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "image"?
Common synonyms include: picture, abstract, abstraction, adumbrate, affectation, affectedness.
How do you use "image" in a sentence?
I asked the student what image he had of black people.
How do you pronounce "image"?
Pronounced /ˈɪm.ɪd͡ʒ/.
Etymology
From Middle English ymage, borrowed from Old French image, from Latin imāgō (“a copy, likeness, image”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eym-; the same PIE root is the source of imitari (“to copy, imitate”); see imitate. Doublet of imago.