Collocations for imagination - noun
ADJECTIVE
great
active, creative, fertile, lively, rich, strong, vivid
fevered, overactive, overheated, wild
It's just a product of your fevered imagination!
active, creative, fertile, lively, rich, strong, vivid
fevered, overactive, overheated, wild
It's just a product of your fevered imagination!
limited
a movie of such limited imagination
a movie of such limited imagination
collective,
popular,
public
a popular hero who inspired the collective imagination
a popular hero who inspired the collective imagination
visual
I was no good at art—I have a very poor visual imagination.
I was no good at art—I have a very poor visual imagination.
artistic,
cultural,
historical,
literary,
musical,
poetic,
political,
romantic
It requires a strong effort of historical imagination to understand the Roman attitude to death.
It requires a strong effort of historical imagination to understand the Roman attitude to death.
moral (esp. AmE),
religious
an education that stimulates the moral imagination
an education that stimulates the moral imagination
human
the powers of the human imagination
the powers of the human imagination
pure
VERB + imagination
have
show
lack
Today's music lacks imagination.
show
lack
Today's music lacks imagination.
require,
take
It does not take great imagination to guess what happened next.
It does not take great imagination to guess what happened next.
use
I don't have a picture of this, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
I don't have a picture of this, so you'll just have to use your imagination.
captivate,
capture,
catch,
excite,
feed,
fire,
fuel,
grab (esp. BrE),
ignite,
inspire,
seize,
spark,
stimulate,
stir
19th-century writers fired the popular imagination with their tales of adventure.
19th-century writers fired the popular imagination with their tales of adventure.
engage,
grip
haunt
The film haunted the imaginations of viewers.
haunt
The film haunted the imaginations of viewers.
exercise,
stretch
defy
The scale of the disaster defied imagination (= was greater than you could imagine).
defy
The scale of the disaster defied imagination (= was greater than you could imagine).
leave sth to
As for their reaction, I'll leave that to your imagination!
As for their reaction, I'll leave that to your imagination!
imagination + VERB
conjure sth up
His imagination conjured up a vision of the normal family life he had never had.
His imagination conjured up a vision of the normal family life he had never had.
play tricks on you,
run away with you,
run riot (esp. BrE),
run wild,
work
Was it only her imagination playing tricks on her?
Was it only her imagination playing tricks on her?
PREPOSITION
beyond (your) imagination
misery that is beyond most people's imagination
misery that is beyond most people's imagination
in the/your imagination
Nobody hates you—it's all in your imagination!
Nobody hates you—it's all in your imagination!
with imagination,
without imagination
He was totally without imagination.
He was totally without imagination.
PHRASES
a lack of imagination
a figment of sb's imagination, a product of sb's imagination
The figure vanished as silently as if it had simply been a figment of her imagination.
a figment of sb's imagination, a product of sb's imagination
The figure vanished as silently as if it had simply been a figment of her imagination.
by no stretch of the imagination,
not by any stretch of the imagination
Not by any stretch of the imagination could she be called beautiful (= she was definitely not beautiful in any way).
Not by any stretch of the imagination could she be called beautiful (= she was definitely not beautiful in any way).
with a little imagination
With a little imagination you can create a delicious meal from yesterday's leftovers.
With a little imagination you can create a delicious meal from yesterday's leftovers.
a hold on the/sb's imagination
the Pyramids retain a remarkable hold on the human imagination.
the Pyramids retain a remarkable hold on the human imagination.