Meaning & use
in my mind's eye
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
In your imagination, or in the pictures you form in your thoughts, especially of something you remember or plan.
Grammar: Used as an adverbial phrase after a verb such as see, picture or imagine: I could see her in my mind's eye.
Patterns
- see someone/something in your mind's eye
- picture someone/something in your mind's eye
- in my/his/her mind's eye
I had never been to the house, but I could picture the kitchen in my mind's eye from her description.
In my mind's eye I can still see my grandmother standing at that gate.
Before the race, he ran the whole course in his mind's eye.
phrasefixed phrase
Used for something you hope or expect to see in the future, pictured in your thoughts before it happens.
Grammar: Often follows verbs of imagining or planning, and can be followed by a clause with -ing: I saw myself, in my mind's eye, walking up to collect the prize.
Patterns
- in your mind's eye, you can see yourself doing something
- imagine something in your mind's eye
In her mind's eye she could already see the finished garden.
He kept the medal in his mind's eye as he trained through the winter.
Common combinations
- see something in your mind's eye
- Close your eyes and see the room in your mind's eye.
- picture something in your mind's eye
- Try to picture the scene in your mind's eye before you write about it.
- in my mind's eye I can see
- In my mind's eye I can see the old classroom as clearly as ever.
- conjure something up in your mind's eye
- The music conjured up a beach in my mind's eye.
- still see something in your mind's eye
- Years later, I still see his face in my mind's eye.
Synonyms and how they differ
- in your imagination
- A plainer, more general phrase; use it when you do not need the vivid idea of a picture inside your head.
- mentally
- Focuses on thinking rather than on seeing a picture; it fits actions like counting or rehearsing, not images.
- in your head
- Informal and broader; it can also mean private thoughts, so it is less precise about a visual image.
Opposites
Word family
- mind's eye noun
- The imagined place inside your thoughts where such pictures appear, as in 'a picture in the mind's eye'.
Commonly confused: in my mind's eye or in my right mind? in my mind's eye or in mind?
in my mind's eye vs in my right mind
This means 'sane' or 'thinking sensibly', as in 'No one in their right mind would swim there'. It has nothing to do with imagining pictures.
in my mind's eye vs in mind
'Have something in mind' means you are considering it as a choice or plan; 'in my mind's eye' is about a mental picture.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'in my mind's eye' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase describes picturing something in your imagination, so it fits seeing the house before describing it. Option 2 confuses it with a real location on a map, option 3 treats it as a place you can put something, and option 4 uses it as a position word, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “in my mind's eye”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.