Meaning & use
a vivid imagination
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Meanings
nouncountable
The ability to form clear, strong and detailed pictures or ideas in your mind.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a' with the singular and 'vivid imaginations' with the plural.
Patterns
- have a vivid imagination
- with a vivid imagination
- a child with a vivid imagination
She has a vivid imagination and writes wonderful stories for children.
As a boy he had a vivid imagination and could picture whole worlds in his head.
Writers often need a vivid imagination to bring characters to life.
nounsingulardisapproving
A tendency to imagine things that are not true or much worse than reality.
Grammar: Often used with 'just' or 'only' to suggest the person is imagining things.
Patterns
- it's just a vivid imagination
- only a vivid imagination
Don't worry about the noises upstairs; it's just a vivid imagination.
He claims he saw a ghost, but I think it's only a vivid imagination.
Word forms
| plural | vivid imaginations |
|---|
Common combinations
- have a vivid imagination
- Both sisters have a vivid imagination and love making up games.
- a child with a vivid imagination
- A child with a vivid imagination may be afraid of the dark.
- a vivid imagination at work
- That story shows a vivid imagination at work.
- fire someone's imagination
- The old photographs fired his vivid imagination.
- a product of a vivid imagination
- The monster was just a product of a vivid imagination.
Synonyms and how they differ
- creative mind
- Focuses on making new things; 'a vivid imagination' stresses clear, colorful mental pictures.
- rich imagination
- Very close in meaning and often positive; 'vivid' emphasizes sharpness and detail rather than abundance.
- fantasy
- A fantasy is a specific imagined scene or story, while a vivid imagination is the ability itself.
Opposites
Word family
- vividly adverb
- in a very clear and detailed way, as in 'I remember it vividly'.
- vividness noun
- the quality of being clear, strong and detailed.
- imagine verb
- to form a picture or idea in your mind.
- imaginative adjective
- good at thinking of new and interesting ideas.
Commonly confused: a vivid imagination or imagery?
a vivid imagination vs imagery
Imagery means pictures or descriptive language in art and writing, not a person's mental ability.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is countable singular, so 'a vivid imagination' is correct. 'Vivid imagination' without 'a' is wrong in this pattern, 'a vivid imaginations' mixes singular and plural, and the last option is not grammatical English.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a vivid imagination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.