1
as in graphical
consisting of or relating to pictures
after a desensitizing series of imaginal exposures to the feared object, the phobic person is then exposed to the actual object
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in mythic
not real and existing only in the imagination
the equator is merely an imaginal line
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of imaginal
Peter [Merry] likes to use is that, when a caterpillar is becoming a butterfly, new ‘imaginal cells’ emerge.
—
Big Think, 7 Aug. 2025
With one technique, for example—called imaginal exposure—you might be asked to visualize the process of going to the airport, boarding the plane, and experiencing a bad bout of turbulence.
—Angela Haupt, TIME, 10 May 2024
Mercury entering into Pisces turns up the imaginal juice.
—USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024
Then, from bundles of cells known as imaginal disks, a new body takes form.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2023
Big Think, 7 Aug. 2025
With one technique, for example—called imaginal exposure—you might be asked to visualize the process of going to the airport, boarding the plane, and experiencing a bad bout of turbulence.
—Angela Haupt, TIME, 10 May 2024
Mercury entering into Pisces turns up the imaginal juice.
—USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024
Then, from bundles of cells known as imaginal disks, a new body takes form.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imaginal
Adjective
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Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.—
Brandon Smith,
Arkansas Online,
30 Oct. 2025
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This allowed Shpirna to expand the team, improve both the technical and graphical quality of the projects, and steadily grow the studio.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In those meetings, our would-be bosses told us to make mock phone calls to prospective clients to gauge our ability to convince strangers about the merit of an imaginary product.—
Snigdha Poonam,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
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Each one was built by a Ramona family, less to keep away any errant birds from imaginary crops at the Grange parking lot, but more to celebrate fall and enjoy a family collaboration.—
Regina Elling,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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With no narration or voice-over from the owner, the visual and audio pairing has been enough to leave viewers in hysterics.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Oct. 2025
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There are several baffling visual motifs, like Jonah’s insistence on wearing the tightest possible shirt in which to teach high-school English or Miller’s ever-flexing jaw muscle.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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That suits its otherworldly and somewhat formal tone, which takes viewers deep into Japan’s mythical past for a quartet of eerie tales about lonely ghosts and vengeful spirits who bring supernatural justice to selfish and immoral humans.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
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Mateus’s approach to the declamation of text by nonprofessional actors finds its roots in movies by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, while her mythic, loamy exploration of the lives of the poor through history follows in the footsteps of the Portuguese director Pedro Costa.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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An enormous photographic project, spanning nearly a century of Kentucky history, holds up a mirror to the state's past and present.—
Ray Padilla,
Louisville Courier Journal,
30 Oct. 2025
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The transients do not seem to be particles of nuclear fallout that have drifted down onto the photographic plate either, since such particles would produce foggy, diffuse spots, not pinpoint, star-like objects.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Of course, close animal encounters aren't always fictitious.—
Kelli Bender,
PEOPLE,
21 Oct. 2025
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The Half Moon Bay weigh-off began in 1974, when the California town barely edged out Circleville, Ohio, in an amiable contest for the fictitious title of pumpkin capital of the world.—
Jennifer Borresen,
USA Today,
19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Much more easy to decipher are pictorial sidewall stamps, some of which include: All-Season: These are the cheapest possible tires, with the least possible performance.—
Wes Siler,
Outside,
16 Sep. 2025
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Yeager was one of Hef’s go-to photographers, shooting eight centerfolds along with pictorial spreads.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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First, and perhaps most obvious, the fictional thriller draws inspiration from the Manson Family's home invasion and murder of Sharon Tate and her friends, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski, as well as Steven Parent, who was visiting the home's caretaker.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
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The Heart of the Ocean may be fictional, but its legend feels real—modeled loosely on the Hope Diamond.—
Lilah Ramzi,
Vogue,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Imaginal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imaginal. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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