imaginative

English

Etymology

From Middle English ymagynatif, from Middle French imaginatif, from Medieval Latin imāginātīvus. By surface analysis, imagine +‎ -ative.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈmæd͡ʒɪnətɪv/, /-ənətɪv/, /ɪˈmæd͡ʒnətɪv/
• Hyphenation: i‧ma‧gi‧na‧tive

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

imaginative (comparative more imaginative, superlative most imaginative)

1. Having a lively or creative imagination.

   an imaginative boy

   • 1951 December, Helen Weissenstein, “Readers' Forum”, in Chess Review:

     No doubt kibitzers are highly imaginative. How else could they see wins and brilliant combinations that do not exist?

2. Tending to be fanciful or inventive.

   an imaginative story

   • 1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume I: The Founders, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: powstanie (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 379:

     From this point of view all philosophy is idealism, an imaginative embellishment of scientific knowledge; and, sure enough, Engels prophesies the decline and extinction of philosophy.

3. False or imagined.

Derived terms

• imaginative fiction
• imaginatively
• imaginativeness
• imaginativity
• nonimaginative
• overimaginative
• unimaginative

Translations

having a lively imagination

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: imaginatiu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 富有想像力的 (fùyǒu xiǎngxiànglì de), 充滿創意的 / 充满创意的 (chōngmǎn chuàngyì de), 想像力豐富的 / 想像力丰富的 (xiǎngxiànglì fēngfù de)

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} imagema
• Finnish: kekseliäs (fi), mielikuvituksellinen (fi), mielikuvituksekas (fi), mielikuvitusrikas
• French: imaginatif (fr)
• Galician: imaxinativo m
• German: einfallsreich (de)
• Greek: ευφάνταστος (el) (effántastos)

  Ancient Greek: εὐφάνταστος (euphántastos)

• Interlingua: imaginative
• Italian: immaginoso (it) m
• Polish: pomysłowy (pl) m
• Portuguese: imaginativo (pt) m
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: mac-meanmnach
• Spanish: imaginativo (es)

tending to be fanciful

• Arabic: خيالي (ar)
• Catalan: imaginatiu
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 充滿想像力的 / 充满想像力的 (chōngmǎn xiǎngxiànglì de), 傾向幻想的 / 倾向幻想的 (qīngxiàng huànxiǎng de), 富創意的 / 富创意的 (fù chuàngyì de)

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} imagema
• Finnish: luova (fi), mielikuvitusrikas
• French: imaginatif (fr)
• Interlingua: imaginative
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: mac-meanmnach

false or imagined

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虛假的 / 虚假的 (xūjiǎ de), 虛構的 / 虚构的 (xūgòu de), 想像的 (xiǎngxiàng de)

• Finnish: keksitty (fi), kuvitteellinen (fi), mielikuvituksekas (fi), kuviteltu (fi)
• French: imaginaire (fr)
• Russian: вообража́емый (ru) (voobražájemyj), мни́мый (ru) (mnímyj), нереа́льный (ru) (nereálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: mac-meanmnach

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ma.ʒi.na.tiv/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophone: imaginatives

Adjective

imaginative

1. feminine singular of imaginatif

Latin

Adjective

imāginātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of imāginātīvus