imagery

noun

im·​ag·​ery ˈi-mij-rē 

-mi-jə-

plural imageries

1

a

: pictures produced by an imaging system

b

: the product of image makers : images

also : the art of making images

2

: figurative language

3

: mental images

especially : the products of imagination

Examples of imagery in a Sentence

The book contains a great deal of sexual imagery.

The movie was full of biblical imagery.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Take It Down Act criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, also known as NCII. —Maria Francis, USA Today, 20 May 2025

Jeff Howell, Yancey County’s emergency management director, watches the radar as storm imagery shifts to red. —Jennifer Berry Hawes, ProPublica, 19 May 2025

Stewart conveys this violence not through graphic imagery but through sound. —Lolita Mang, Vogue, 17 May 2025

The film’s imagery of water is at once rapt and concrete. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ymagerie "images portrayed in sculpture, painting, etc.," borrowed from Anglo-French, from ymage, image image entry 1 + -erie -ery

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing imagery

• satellite imagery

Kids Definition

imagery

noun

im·​ag·​ery ˈim-ij-(ə-)rē 

plural imageries

1

: images that can be seen or that are imagined

2

: language that suggests how someone or something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes

Medical Definition

imagery

noun

im·​ag·​ery ˈim-ij-(ə-)rē 

plural imageries

: mental images

eidetic imagery

especially : the products of imagination

psychotic imagery