imagining 1 of 2

noun

as in theory

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imagining

2 of 2

verb

present participle of imagine
1
as in envisioning
to form a mental picture of she was determined to have the wedding that she had always imagined

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in thinking
to have as an opinion I imagine that's true, but you still have to prove it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in guessing
to form an opinion from little or no evidence I imagine things will change rapidly once we begin

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of imagining
Noun
In Whitehead’s hands, that imagining takes us through both time and place while making visceral the horrors of enslavement. — Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026 More importantly, her imagining of Little House on the Prairie isn’t designed to be a look at the past but more about its parallels with our present. — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 10 July 2026 The process of imagining, crafting and playing has become just as important as the finished structures themselves. — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026 Like the assignment by the man’s most brilliant student or the Oedipus trilogy, which was performed in Athens’s outdoor theaters in the fifth century BCE, Helen of Nowhere will end up transforming the man at its center beyond his imagining. — Literary Hub, 18 June 2026 This 1787 imagining, by architect and designer Felice Soave and Giocondo Albertolli, was the setting for a love affair between Giuditta Cantù Turino, the frescoist Appiano’s great-niece, and Vincenzo Bellini, Italy’s most romantic and melodramatic operatic composer. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026 Parsons was already deeply enmeshed in imagining, and visualizing, strange new worlds online. — David Sims, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026 The most tangible example is the Magic Pointer, a re-imagining of the cursor. — Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026 The classical re-imagining of Mellon Collie was unveiled last November at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago. — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 18 May 2026
Verb
Companies are imagining what AI might make possible, and making moves before fully understanding how to get there. — Maria Colacurcio, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026 What is sort of funny is imagining how immersion in the city’s cultural scene fits into Vanderbilt’s broader ambitions. — Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 26 Aug. 2026 Musgraves found a silver lining while imagining Parton reuniting with her husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at 82. — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 25 Aug. 2026 The products that will earn clients’ trust are designed from the ground up, close to the friction and client experience, not from those reading industry reports or imagining a spec. — Doug Scott, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 Blanding was pregnant with her first child at the time, and the sisters quickly began imagining what life could look like with their separate homes just steps away from each other. — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026 The film begins with the religious question of whether young Ilyas is allowed to shave the bristles on his upper lip, leading to a consistent self-consciousness, which appears (and re-appears) as Ilyas imagining extreme close-ups of hair and skin. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 5 Aug. 2026 The frontman for Evening Elephants comes often to the lowlands of Griffith Park, watching locals practice yoga and Taekwondo, while imagining new music for his alternative pop act. — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 5 Aug. 2026 Diaz scouted the stadium a day before and took a test shot imagining Loria on the pitcher’s mound and a view of the interior of the stadium. — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 4 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imagining
  1. theory
  2. envisioning
  3. thinking
  4. guessing
  5. assumption
  6. picturing
  7. believing
  8. assuming
Noun
  • The lipstick index is an economic theory holding that sales of affordable discretionary spending or luxuries skyrocket when consumers believe an economic recession is impending.
    — Sarah Glodek, Fortune, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Yet Turing’s theory of computation wasn’t really about computers, at least not at first.
    — Ben Brubaker, Quanta Magazine, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of theory
Verb
  • The former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher began building the estate in 2016 while playing for the Texas Rangers, envisioning it as a dream home for himself and then-wife Heidi Strobel.
    — Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The Rams selected Hunter in the fourth round of the 2025 draft, envisioning the former Auburn standout as a breakaway threat.
    — Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of envisioning
Verb
  • The play depends on the creeping eeriness of thinking your place of comfort has been corrupted and undercut by evil.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Anyway, please consider thinking that Jimmy deserves an Emmy.
    — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of thinking
Verb
  • That’s 1 point for me immediately taken away for losing to the Bot, who gets 2 for guessing in two and 1 for beating me.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • But will the new Fed boss keep investors guessing on the central bank’s rate path and his views on the Treasury’s intervention in the bond market?
    — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of guessing
Noun
  • The alternative is to allow each side’s strategy to reinforce the other’s worst assumptions until escalation begins to look less like a choice than an inevitability.
    — Hamidreza Azizi, Time, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Bareilles is mourning a few things — the deaths of close friends, dreams of easy fertility, assumptions of female autonomy, the American dream — but the music soars, more often than not.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of assumption
Verb
  • The above style is an absolute staple, and the mid-blue wash goes with everything—I’m already picturing it with a gray cashmere sweater.
    — Annie Blackman, InStyle, 29 Aug. 2026
  • How to choose the right lender To choose the right lender, Collins from Western Governors University suggests picturing yourself making the payments after graduation.
    — Sharon Wu, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of picturing
Verb
  • Julie Pierre, the 21-year-old owner of Roll and Dough, which operates out of a commissary kitchen in Sunrise, took to social media after the rolls went missing, initially believing they had been stolen.
    — Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2026
  • For the past four years, Mann has taken her three children, now 16, 14 and 12, out of school for major trips around the world, believing travel plays an important role in raising smart, well-rounded kids.
    — Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of believing
Verb
  • Coronated at age 3 after his father’s death, the curious boy king in colorful robes mesmerized world leaders and ruled through regents until assuming full authority at 18.
    — Rodney Muhumuza, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026
  • At those levels, assuming no additional charges, paying off the debt while making minimum payments could take nearly 27 years and cost nearly $13,000 in interest alone, according to Bankrate's credit card calculator.
    — Mike Winters, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of assuming

Browse Nearby Words

imaging
imagining
imbalance
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Cite this Entry

“Imagining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imagining. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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