imagination

fevered, overactive, overheated

Her overactive imagination turned every strange noise in the house into something scary.

collective, popular, public

The film captured the public imagination and became a global phenomenon.

visual

My friend struggles to picture scenes in her mind because she has a weak visual imagination.

historical, literary

To appreciate how people lived centuries ago, you need historical imagination.

human

The human imagination can transform a simple story into an entire imaginary world.

lack

His cooking always lacked imagination, so the family ate the same meals every week.

require, take

Planning a surprise party for your friend requires quite a lot of imagination.

use

The children used their imagination to turn the cardboard box into a spaceship.

capture, captivate, catch, excite, fire, inspire, seize, stimulate, stir

The colorful illustrations in the children's book really captured their imagination during story time.

grip, hold

The idea of traveling to space has gripped the imagination of children for generations.

defy

The complexity of the magic trick defied imagination when the magician finally revealed his secret.

leave sth to

You can imagine the rest of the story, so I'll leave the ending to your imagination.

conjure sth up

Her imagination conjured up magical creatures and distant planets during the long, boring train journey.

beyond (your) ~

The scale of the ancient pyramid was beyond our imagination when we finally saw it in person.

in the/your ~

She worried that the strange noises were just in her imagination.

with/without ~

The artist created stunning designs with remarkable imagination and creativity.

a lack of imagination, a figment/product of sb's imagination

The monster in the closet turned out to be just a product of the child's imagination.

not by any/by no stretch of the imagination

Even by no stretch of the imagination could that terrible movie be considered entertaining.

only your imagination

I think that strange noise was only my imagination, but my sister heard it too.

with a little imagination

With a little imagination, that old cardboard box became an exciting pirate ship for the children.