imaginary

[ih-maj-uh-ner-ee]

adjective

1. existing only in the imagination or fancy; not real; fancied.

   an imaginary illness; the imaginary animals in the stories of Dr. Seuss.

   Synonyms: illusory, baseless, chimerical, shadowy, visionary, fanciful
   Antonyms: real

noun

plural

imaginaries 

1. Mathematics.,  imaginary number.

imaginary

/ -dʒɪnrɪ, ɪˈmædʒɪnərɪ /

adjective

1. existing in the imagination; unreal; illusory

2. maths involving or containing imaginary numbers. The imaginary part of a complex number, z, is usually written Im z

Other Word Forms

• imaginarily adverb
• imaginariness noun
• nonimaginarily adverb
• nonimaginarilyness noun
• nonimaginariness noun
• nonimaginary adjective
• preimaginary adjective
• unimaginary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of imaginary¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin imāginārius, equivalent to imāgin-, (stem of imāgō ) image + -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

“When I say that conversation never happened, that imaginary conversation never happened, I mean that conversation never happened.”

From Salon

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was one of the right-wingers celebrating the imaginary liberal-triggering powers of the sorority dancing videos.

From Salon

I always like to be fully alive in my body, in the imaginary life of the character at all times.

From Los Angeles Times

The strangest song Jepsen has ever written, according to Jepsen: “Store,” the improbably exuberant bop about grocery shopping that she sang at the Troubadour while two-stepping down an imaginary frozen foods aisle.

From Los Angeles Times

While the Lakers once had visions of Anthony Davis replacing James as the face of their franchise, the imaginary baton was never passed.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abstract 
• fanciful 
• fantastic 
• fictional 
• hypothetical 
• imagined www.thesaurus.com
• theoretical 
• unreal 
• whimsical