What does "imaginary" mean?
Imagination; fancy.
Imaginary
/ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnəɹi/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Imagination; fancy.
- Grammar: imaginary is listed as adj, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: abstract, academic, air built, air-built.
- Useful contrasts: actual, actual assignment, actual conditions.
- Usage evidence: You say Nessie is an imaginary being, but I think she exists.
How to use "imaginary"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "imaginary" 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 "imaginary" 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 "imaginary" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "imaginary" 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 "imaginary" is acting as adj, noun 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 "abstract" 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 "imaginary", 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 Imagination; fancy.
"By then too Mozart's opera, from Da Ponte's libretto, had made Figaro a stock character in the European imaginary and set the whole Continent whistling Mozartian airs and chuckling at Figaresque humour."
- 2 (mathematics) a number of the form a+bi where a and b are real numbers and i is the square root of -1 wordnet
- 3 An imaginary number. countable
- 4 The set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols common to a particular social group and the corresponding society through which people imagine their social whole.
"The sensory media are sensuous materials which prolong our bodily life into the surrounding world, and hence the media are imaginaries. These perceptually penetrated materials are " imaginaries " because they operate here in our living body […]."
Adjective
- 1 Existing only in the imagination.
"imaginary friend"
- 2 Having no real part; that part of a complex number which is a multiple of √ (called imaginary unit).
- 3 Having no real part; that part of a complex number which is a multiple of √ (called imaginary unit).
Adjective
- 1 not based on fact; existing only in the imagination wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"You say Nessie is an imaginary being, but I think she exists."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "imaginary"?
Common synonyms include: abstract, academic, air built, air-built, airy, algorismic.
How do you use "imaginary" in a sentence?
You say Nessie is an imaginary being, but I think she exists.
How do you pronounce "imaginary"?
Pronounced /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnəɹi/.
Etymology
From Middle English ymaginarie, ymagynary, from Latin imāginārius (“relating to images, fancied”), from imāgō, equivalent to imagine + -ary. The mathematical sense derives from René Descartes's use (of the French imaginaire) in 1637, La Geometrie, to ridicule the notion of regarding non-real roots of polynomials as numbers. Although Descartes' usage was derogatory, the designation stuck even after the concept gained acceptance in the 18th century.