imagination

beyond imagination

Inconceivable; outside of the realm of imagination, expectation, or anticipation. I find it simply beyond imagination the greed of all these big corporations. That film was amazing, it was actually beyond imagination.See also: beyond, imagination

leave nothing to the imagination

1. Of clothing, to hide or cover very little (of the body) or be very revealing. I was quite embarrassed when John showed up for our date wearing ill-fitting jeans that left nothing to the imagination.2. To present (something) in a very stark or obvious manner. The film is relentlessly blunt with its anti-religious message, leaving nothing to the imagination from beginning to end.See also: imagination, leave, nothing

leave little to the imagination

1. Of clothing, to hide or cover very little (of the body) or be very revealing. I was quite embarrassed when John showed up for our date wearing ill-fitting jeans that left little to the imagination.2. To present (something) in a very stark or obvious manner. The film is relentlessly blunt with its anti-religious message, leaving little to the imagination from beginning to end.See also: imagination, leave, little

by no stretch of the imagination

Unable to happen within, at, or beyond the limits of the imagination; in no possible situation or from no conceivable perspective. By no stretch of the imagination do I think our team has a chance of winning tonight. Tommy does all right in school, but by no stretch of the imagination would I call him a genius.See also: by, imagination, no, of, stretch

figment of (one's)/the imagination

An experience that initially is thought to be real but is actually imagined. I thought I heard the sound of my front door opening last night but it turned out to be a figment of my imagination.See also: figment, imagination, of

flight of imagination

An imaginative but unrealistic idea. No one took his campaign for office seriously because his proposed solutions to problems were filled with flights of imagination.See also: flight, imagination, of

be a figment of (one's/the) imagination

To be an imagined experience (especially after one has initially thought it to be real). I thought I heard the sound of my front door opening last night but it turned out to be a figment of my imagination.See also: figment, imagination, of

by any stretch of the imagination

As much or as far as one is able to imagine or believe. Usually used in the negative. It's looking like we're not going to win by any stretch of the imagination. I can't see by any stretch of the imagination how we're going to pull this off.See also: any, by, imagination, of, stretch

capture (one's) imagination

To hold one's interest or spark one's creativity. I know it sounds strange, but his talk on the importance of obtuse angles really captured my imagination. That movie captured his imagination so much that it inspired him to become a screenwriter.See also: capture, imagination

not by any stretch of the imagination

In no possible situation or from no conceivable perspective. Not by any stretch of the imagination do I think our team has a chance of winning tonight. Tommy does all right in school, but not by any stretch of the imagination would I call him a genius.See also: any, by, imagination, not, of, stretch

pique (one's) (emotion)

To arouse a particular emotion in one. While the special effects looked impressive, it was the movie's approach to its female characters that piqued my interest. Nothing piques my ire like people who don't use their turn signals when they're driving! It's important to provide your children with experiences that pique their curiosity.See also: pique

by any stretch of the imagination

as much as anyone could imagine; as much as is imaginable. (Often negative.) I don't see how anyone by any stretch of the imagination could fail to understand what my last sentence meant.See also: any, by, imagination, of, stretch

capture someone's imagination

Fig. to intrigue someone; to interest someone in a lasting way; to stimulate someone's imagination. The story of the young wizard has captured the imagination of the world's children.See also: capture, imagination

figment of one's imagination

Something made up, invented, or fabricated, as in "The long dishevelled hair, the swelled black face, the exaggerated stature were figments of imagination" (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847). This term is redundant, since figment means "product of the imagination." [Early 1800s] See also: figment, imagination, of

not by any stretch of the imagination

by no stretch of the imagination

If you say that something is not true or possible by any stretch of the imagination or by no stretch of the imagination, you mean that it is completely untrue or impossible. He had several jobs, all of them involving driving but none of them well-paid by any stretch of the imagination. By no stretch of the imagination could his speech be described as impersonal.See also: any, by, imagination, not, of, stretch

by any stretch of the imagination

If something is not true by any stretch of the imagination, it is definitely not true. The Danube was not by any stretch of the imagination blue. Note: People sometimes just say by any stretch. He is not regarded as a serious biographer by any stretch.See also: any, by, imagination, of, stretch

by no (or not by any) stretch of the imagination

used to emphasize that something is definitely not the case. 1996 New Statesman Though it is by no stretch of the imagination a political paper, its owner has a reputation as an outspoken critic of China. See also: by, imagination, no, of, stretch

a figment of somebody’s imagiˈnation

something which somebody only imagines: Doctor, are you suggesting the pain is a figment of my imagination?See also: figment, imagination, of

by ˈno stretch of the imagination

not by ˈany stretch of the imagination

it is completely impossible to say; by no means: By no stretch of the imagination could you call him clever. ♢ You couldn’t say that factory was beautiful, not by any stretch of the imagination!See also: by, imagination, no, of, stretch

figment of the imagination, a

An imaginary occurrence; a pipe dream. This expression is tautological, since figment means a product of fictitious invention. Nevertheless, it has been used since the mid-nineteenth century. It appeared in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847): “The long dishevelled hair, the swelled black face, the exaggerated stature, were figments of imagination.”See also: figment, of

imagination

(in romantic literary criticism, esp that of S. T. Coleridge) a creative act of perception that joins passive and active elements in thinking and imposes unity on the poetic material

Imagination

(fantasy), mental activity consisting of the creation of ideas and mental situations that were never wholly experienced by the individual in reality. The imagination operates with concrete sense images or visual models of reality, but at the same time it has features of mediated, generalized knowledge that link it to the process of thought. The departure from reality characteristic of imagination permits us to define it as a process of the transforming reflection of reality.

Imagination is a specifically human form of mental activity originating in the practical transformation of reality. Developing along with the increasing complexity of the process of labor and of social relations, imagination becomes one of the basic elements of human consciousness and activity. The chief function of imagination in human consciousness is to represent in ideal terms the goal of activity before it is achieved in reality. Another function of imagination is connected with the planning of action, which is essential to the process of labor. “A spider conducts operations resembling those of a weaver, and a bee puts to shame many an architect in the construction of her cells. But what distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is this, that the architect raises his structure in imagination before he erects it in reality” (K. Marx, in K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch. 2nd ed., vol. 23, p. 189). In this case, it is especially hard to separate the activity of imagination from thought. But in the actual unity of all mental functions in the subject imagination maintains its specific character: the anticipation of that which does not yet exist, either in a given individual’s personal experience or in reality generally. Connected with this is the ability to make discoveries, to find new ways and means of solving the problems that confront mankind. Conjecture and intuition leading to a discovery are impossible without imagination. Thus, imagination is a component in the creation not only of those products of activity that are saturated with imagery but also of those involving abstract concepts. V. I. Lenin wrote about fantasy: “It is wrong to think that only poets need imagination. That is a silly prejudice! It is needed even in mathematics; and it would even have been impossible to discover the differential and integral calculus without imagination” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 45, p. 125). Logic and imagination can “work together” because their opposition is not absolute. In thought there is a constant reencoding of verbal and conceptual logical structures into visual ones employing imagery and vice versa, with the latter frequently carrying the basic heuristic burden in the solution of intellectual problems. Precisely this circumstance is one of the obstacles still to be overcome in formalizing heuristic processes and turning them over to machines.

A distinction can be made between imagination that recreates and imagination that creates. Recreative imagination consists of the creation of images of previously unperceived objects in conformity with descriptions or conventional representations of them by such means as drawings, topographic maps, or literary texts. The creative imagination consists of the independent creation of new images which are then embodied in original products of activity. It is one of the psychological factors behind scientific and technological progress, and it appears most vividly in artistic creation. There it becomes a special form of knowledge and, at the same time, a portrayal and “objectification” of the essence of living reality. The daydream is a special kind of creative imagination, the creation of images of a desired future that are not embodied immediately in products of activity. Daydreams can play an activating role in the life of the individual and society if the ideas they contain lead to further practical transformations.

The extremely broad range of the manifestations of imagination—always appearing united with other aspects of mental activity—also conditions the mental devices (varied in nature and complexity) for transforming an individual’s ideas and perceptions. The mechanism of these transformations generally can be reduced to the analysis and synthesis of initial “material” by the imagination. In simple cases there is a combination of heterogeneous elements (“agglutination”), an exaggeration or minimizing of various aspects of reality, a discovery of similarity in difference, or a breaking up of that which is a unity. In complex cases, creative imagination requires broad conceptual generalizations and comparisons, evolving through quests for concrete facts, characteristics, situations, visual models, and artistic constructions—all of which reflect the general ideas and law-like regularities that must be revealed or discovered. Thus in artistic creation the typical is portrayed through the individual and laws of natural science are discovered through observations of concrete phenomena or through the creation of an experimental model.

The activity of the imagination can be more or less voluntary, ranging from the spontaneous fantasies of children to the sustained goal-directed efforts of the inventor. Dreams are an example of the involuntary activity of the imagination; however, they can be determined by a goal set during waking hours, as in the well-known instances of scientific problems solved in dreams.

Imagination develops in the process of creative activity under the influence of social demands. A prerequisite for a highly developed imagination is its cultivation from childhood through games, schoolwork, and access to works of art. The accumulation of varied life experiences, the acquisition of knowledge, and the formation of convictions are an essential source of imagination.

REFERENCES

Anan’ev, B. G. “Problema predstavleniia v sovetskoi psikhologicheskoi nauke.” Filosofskie zapiski, 1950, vol. 5, pp. 58-98.
Berkinblit, M., and A. Petrovskii. Fantaziia i real’nost’. Moscow, 1968.
Wundt, W. Fantaziia kak osnova iskusstva. St. Petersburg-Moscow, 1914. (Translated from German.)
Vygotskii, L. S. Psikhologiia iskusstva. Moscow, 1968.
Ribot, T. Opyt issledovaniia tvorcheskogo voobrazheniia. St. Petersburg, 1901. (Translated from French.)
Rozov, A. I. “Fantaziia i tvorchestvo.” Voprosy filosofii, 1966, no. 9.
Iakobson, P. M. Protsess tvorcheskoi raboty izobretatelia. Moscow-Leningrad, 1934.
Boirel, R. L’invention. Paris, 1955.
Chowdhury, K., and P. Vernon. “An Experimental Study of Imagery and Its Relation to Abilities and Interests.” The British Journal of Psychology, 1964, vol. 55, no. 3.
McKellar, P. Imagination and Thinking: A Psychological Analysis. London [1957].
Osborn, A. F. Applied Imagination: Principles and Procedures of Creative Thinking. New York [1957].
Ryle, G. “Imagination.” In Essays in Philosophical Psychology. Edited by D. F. Gustafson. London-Melbourne, 1967.
Sartre, J. P. L’imaginaire. Paris, 1960.

L. L. GUROVA

imagination

i·mag·i·na·tion

imagination

im•ag•i•na•tion

imagination

imagination

imagine

imagination

imagination

beyond imagination

leave nothing to the imagination

leave little to the imagination

by no stretch of the imagination

figment of (one's)/the imagination

flight of imagination

be a figment of (one's/the) imagination

by any stretch of the imagination

capture (one's) imagination

not by any stretch of the imagination

pique (one's) (emotion)

by any stretch of the imagination

capture someone's imagination

figment of one's imagination

not by any stretch of the imagination

by no stretch of the imagination

by any stretch of the imagination

by no (or not by any) stretch of the imagination

a figment of somebody’s imagiˈnation

by ˈno stretch of the imagination

not by ˈany stretch of the imagination

figment of the imagination, a

imagination

imagination

Imagination

REFERENCES

imagination

imagination

imagination

Synonyms for imagination

noun creativity

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noun mind's eye

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noun interest

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Synonyms for imagination

noun the power of the mind to form images

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Synonyms for imagination

noun the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses

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noun the ability to form mental images of things or events

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noun the ability to deal resourcefully with unusual problems

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