What does imaginary mean?
Definitions for imaginary
ɪˈmædʒ əˌnɛr iimag·i·na·ry
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word imaginary.
Princeton's WordNet
complex number, complex quantity, imaginary number, imaginaryadjective
(mathematics) a number of the form a+bi where a and b are real numbers and i is the square root of -1
fanciful, imaginary, notionaladjective
not based on fact; unreal
"the falsehood about some fanciful secret treaties"- F.D.Roosevelt; "a small child's imaginary friends"; "to create a notional world for oneself"
Wiktionary
imaginarynoun
Imagination; fancy.
imaginarynoun
An imaginary quantity.
imaginaryadjective
existing only in the imagination
imaginaryadjective
of a number, having no real part; that part of a complex number which is a multiple of the square root of -1.
Etymology: From imaginarius, from imago.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Imaginaryadjective
Etymology: imaginaire, French, from imagine.
False sorrow's eye,
Which, for things true, weeps things imaginary. William Shakespeare.Expectation whirls me round:
Th' imaginary relish is so sweet,
That it enchants my sense. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida.Fortune is nothing else but a power imaginary, to which the successes of human actions and endeavours were for their variety ascribed. Walter Raleigh, History of the World.
Why wilt thou add, to all the griefs I suffer,
Imaginary ills and fancied tortures? Joseph Addison, Cato.
ChatGPT
imaginary
Imaginary refers to something that is not real or present, but produced by the mind, fantasy, or exists only in theory, not in reality. It's often used in the context of math and physics where an imaginary number is a complex number that can be written as a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit 'i', which is defined by its property 'i' squared equals to -1.
Webster Dictionary
Imaginaryadjective
existing only in imagination or fancy; not real; fancied; visionary; ideal
Imaginarynoun
an imaginary expression or quantity
Suggested Resources
Imaginary
Imaginative vs. Imaginary -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Imaginative and Imaginary.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of imaginary in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of imaginary in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of imaginary in a Sentence
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
Life – a sort of a plate of real-imaginary from which I nibble together with the birds of light and darkness, with the poor and well-to-do of the world at grains of to be once rough (like sharp stones), other times more like the pulp of pomegranates and ripe figs; stairs I have to climb in myself and climb down… to sometimes walk along the roads of infinity, other times, how many, to stop before the first step, waiting for the path home…
My feeling at the time is when Micky Dolenz today .’re that successful, Micky Dolenz today . really do n’t give a s --- what people say, frankly, but the people I cared about got it. They got what it was. It was not trying to cash in on The Beatles. It was a television show. The Monkees in 1997. ( Reuters) The Monkees was not a group or a band, it was a TV show about a band. And it was about this imaginary band that lived in this beach house … that wanted to be The Beatles.
In suggesting that God is ‘queer’ Swarthmore College is guilty of nothing short of modern day idolatry, when you read the Bible you will discover that God reserved His harshest condemnation for individuals and nations that practiced idolatry – creating an imaginary god who conformed to a culture’s immorality.
Theyre not imaginary, theyre real ... to have the chair of the Judiciary Committee, on the House floor, say ... these words ...imaginary things like Antifa. They are far from imaginary. And there are people in every major city in this country whoknow that and yet the chair of the Judiciary Committee just made that statement. That is scary.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for imaginary
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- denkbeeldig, imaginêrAfrikaans
- خياليArabic
- কাল্পনিকBengali
- imaginariCatalan, Valencian
- pomyslný, imaginárníCzech
- imaginær, fantasi-Danish
- eingebildet, imaginärGerman
- φανταστικόςGreek
- imaginarioSpanish
- imaginaari-, kuvitteellinen, imaginaarinenFinnish
- imaginaireFrench
- samhlaithe, samhlaitheach, samhailteachIrish
- mac-meanmnachScottish Gaelic
- imaxinarioGalician
- imaginárius, képzetes, képzeletbeliHungarian
- երեւակայականArmenian
- imajiner, khayal, khayalanIndonesian
- fiktiva, imaginita, imaginalaIdo
- immaginarioItalian
- ដែលមានតែក្នុងមនោគតិKhmer
- phantasticus, imaginariusLatin
- iedomāts, imaginārsLatvian
- काल्पनिकMarathi
- denkbeeldig, imaginairDutch
- innbiltNorwegian
- urojona, zmyślonyPolish
- imaginárioPortuguese
- imaginarRomanian
- воображаемый, вымышленный, мнимыйRussian
- imaginärSwedish
- -a kubuniSwahili
- sanalTurkish
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"imaginary." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 14 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/imaginary>.
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