IMAGINARY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does imaginary mean? 

• IMAGINARY (noun)
  The noun IMAGINARY has 1 sense:

1. (mathematics) a number of the form a+bi where a and b are real numbers and i is the square root of -1

  Familiarity information: IMAGINARY used as a noun is very rare.

• IMAGINARY (adjective)
  The adjective IMAGINARY has 1 sense:

1. not based on fact; existing only in the imagination

  Familiarity information: IMAGINARY used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMAGINARY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(mathematics) a number of the form a+bi where a and b are real numbers and i is the square root of -1

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

complex number; complex quantity; imaginary; imaginary number

Hypernyms ("imaginary" is a kind of...):

number (a concept of quantity involving zero and units)

Meronyms (parts of "imaginary"):

imaginary part; imaginary part of a complex number (the part of a complex number that has the square root of -1 as a factor)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "imaginary"):

complex conjugate (either of two complex numbers whose real parts are identical and whose imaginary parts differ only in sign)

real; real number (any rational or irrational number)

pure imaginary number (an imaginary number of the form a+bi where a is 0)

• IMAGINARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not based on fact; existing only in the imagination

Synonyms:

fanciful; imaginary; notional

Context example:

to create a notional world for oneself

Similar:

unreal (lacking in reality or substance or genuineness; not corresponding to acknowledged facts or criteria)

 Context examples 

Some account of them and of their appearance was in the papers, and would naturally occur to anyone who wished to invent a story in which imaginary robbers should play a part.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And when Meg told him to behave himself and go away, he wrung imaginary tears out of his handkerchief, and staggered round the corner as if in utter despair.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

An imaginary sphere of infinite radius, on which the stars appear to be placed.

(Celestial sphere, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

A number of the form x+iy, where x and y are real numbers and i is the imaginary unit equal to the square root of -1.

(Complex Number, NCI Thesaurus)

If these feelings had not found an imaginary gratification, the appearance of the city had yet in itself sufficient beauty to obtain our admiration.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

An imaginary surface formed by extension of a point through any axis or two definite points; any flat two-dimensional surface.

(Plane, NCI Thesaurus)

As Marianne's affection for her mother was sincere, it must triumph with little difficulty, over the imaginary evils she had started.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

In what imaginary act of friendship can you here defend yourself? or under what misrepresentation can you here impose upon others?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Thinking that my aunt might have relapsed into one of her old alarms, and might be watching the progress of some imaginary conflagration in the distance, I went to speak to her.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This forcefulness would make you furious that the school would do this to the entire student body. (I heard about a case like this, so this is not an imaginary situation.)

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)