2 N‑COUNT Your imagination is the part of your mind which allows you to form pictures or ideas of things that do not necessarily exist in real life. □ Long before I ever went there, Africa was alive in my imagination.
3 PHRASE If you say that someone or something captured your imagination , you mean that you thought they were interesting or exciting when you saw them or heard them for the first time. □ [+ of ] Italian football captured the imagination of the nation last season.
4 PHRASE If you say that something stretches your imagination , you mean that it is good because it makes you think about things that you had not thought about before. [APPROVAL ] □ Their films are exciting and really stretch the imagination.
5 not by any stretch of the imagination → see stretch SYNONYMS imagination NOUN 1
creativity: American art reached a peak of creativity in the '50s and 60s.
inventiveness: He has surprised us before with his inventiveness.
inspiration: My inspiration comes from poets like Baudelaire and Jacques Prévert.
originality: He was capable of writing things of startling originality.
im|agi|na|tive / I mæ dʒ I nət I v/ ADJ If you describe someone or their ideas as imaginative , you are praising them because they are easily able to think of or create new or exciting things. [APPROVAL ] □ …an imaginative writer. ● im|agi|na|tive|ly ADV [ADV with v] □ The hotel is decorated imaginatively and attractively.
im|ag|ine ◆◆◇ / I mæ dʒ I n/ (imagines , imagining , imagined )
1 VERB If you imagine something, you think about it and your mind forms a picture or idea of it. □ [V n/v-ing] He could not imagine a more peaceful scene. □ [V wh] Can you imagine how she must have felt when Mary Brent turned up with me in tow? □ [V that] Imagine you're lying on a beach, listening to the steady rhythm of waves lapping the shore. □ [V n v-ing] I can't imagine you being unfair to anyone, Leigh.
2 VERB If you imagine that something is the case, you think that it is the case. □ [V that] I imagine you're referring to Jean-Paul Sartre. □ [V so ] 'Was he meeting someone?'—'I imagine so.'
3 VERB If you imagine something, you think that you have seen, heard, or experienced that thing, although actually you have not. □ [V that] I realised that I must have imagined the whole thing. [Also V n]
im|ag|ing / I m I dʒ I ŋ/ N‑UNCOUNT Imaging is the process of forming images that represent things such as sound waves, temperature, chemicals, or electrical activity. [TECHNICAL ] □ …thermal imaging cameras.
im|ag|in|ings / I mæ dʒ I n I ŋz/ N‑PLURAL Imaginings are things that you think you have seen or heard, although actually you have not. [LITERARY ]
imam / I mɑː m/ (imams ) N‑COUNT In Islam, an imam is a religious leader, especially the leader of a Muslim community or the person who leads the prayers in a mosque.
IMAX /a I mæks/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] IMAX is a system for showing films on very large screens with very clear sound and pictures. [TRADEMARK ] □ …a new IMAX cinema.
im|bal|ance / I mbæ ləns/ (imbalances ) N‑VAR If there is an imbalance in a situation, the things involved are not the same size, or are not the right size in proportion to each other. □ [+ between ] …the imbalance between the two sides in this war. [Also + in ]
im|bal|anced / I mbæ lənst/ ADJ If you describe a situation as imbalanced , you mean that the elements within it are not evenly or fairly arranged. □ …the present imbalanced structure of world trade.
im|becile / I mb I siːl, [AM ] -s ə l/ (imbeciles )
1 N‑COUNT If you call someone an imbecile , you are showing that you think they are stupid or have done something stupid. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ I don't want to deal with these imbeciles any longer.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Imbecile means stupid. □ It was an imbecile thing to do.
im|bibe / I mba I b/ (imbibes , imbibing , imbibed )
1 VERB To imbibe alcohol means to drink it. [FORMAL , often HUMOROUS ] □ [V n] They were used to imbibing enormous quantities of alcohol. □ [V ] No one believes that current nondrinkers should be encouraged to start imbibing.
2 VERB If you imbibe ideas or arguments, you listen to them, accept them, and believe that they are right or true. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] As a clergyman's son he'd imbibed a set of mystical beliefs from the cradle.
im|bro|glio / I mbroʊ lioʊ/ (imbroglios ) N‑COUNT An imbroglio is a very confusing or complicated situation. [LITERARY ]
im|bue / I mbjuː / (imbues , imbuing , imbued ) VERB If someone or something is imbued with an idea, feeling, or quality, they become filled with it. [FORMAL ] □ [be V -ed + with ] As you listen, you notice how every single word is imbued with a breathless sense of wonder. □ [V n + with ] …men who can imbue their hearers with enthusiasm. ● im|bued ADJ [v-link ADJ with n] □ [+ with ] …a Guards officer imbued with a military sense of duty and loyalty.
IMF ◆◇◇ /a I em e f/ N‑PROPER The IMF is an international agency which tries to promote trade and improve economic conditions in poorer countries, sometimes by lending them money. IMF is an abbreviation for 'International Monetary Fund'.
IMHO IMHO is the written abbreviation for 'in my humble opinion', mainly used in text messages and emails. [COMPUTING ]
imi|tate / I m I te I t/ (imitates , imitating , imitated )