imagery
Language evoking senses
Imagery is the collection of images in a work of art, literature, or speech—the mental pictures evoked by descriptive language: The poem's imagery draws heavily on nature.
In a broader sense, imagery refers to visual representations collectively: satellite imagery, medical imagery.
The word also describes the use of figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas: His writing is rich with religious imagery.
Image from a camera
- pictureVisual depiction of something
- graphicVividly detailed or visual
- illustrationPicture explaining something
- depictionRepresentation in art
representation · portrait · snapshot · rendering · tableau · mural · iconography · pictorial
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- figurative languageNon-literal modes of expression
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
personification · allusion · motif · description · vivid language · sensory detail · word picture · evocation
Forming mental or graphical images
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- daydreamConscious fantasy while awake
- mind's eyeInternal visualization capacity
- reverieAbstracted, pleasant daydream
vision · conjuring · picturing · mental picture · dreamscape · musing · contemplation · envisioning
Representational mark or sign
- emblemRepresentational sign or device
- iconPictorial screen symbol
- totemSpiritual clan symbol
- archetypeOriginal model for copies
motif · allegory · representation · insignia · hallmark · semiotics · figurative · parable
Intensely detailed verbal picture
- word paintingMusic that illustrates lyrics
- sensory appealQuality engaging the senses
- rhetorical deviceCalculated language technique for effect
- amplificationIncrease in intensity
Metered poetic passage
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- sonnetFourteen-line metered poem
- haikuJapanese seventeen-syllable verse
- odeLaudatory verse form
elegy · lyric · ballad · epic · rhyme · meter · cadence · quatrain
Interpretive depiction or performance
- 3DThree-axis spatial representation
- CGIDigital movie imagery
- visualizationForming mental or graphical images
- simulationImitation of real processes
infographic · graphic design · digital art · computer graphics · animation · virtual reality · augmented reality · pixel art
photograph
Image from a camera
- pictureVisual depiction of something
- graphicVividly detailed or visual
- illustrationPicture explaining something
depiction · representation · portrait · snapshot · rendering · tableau · mural · iconography · pictorial · artwork
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- simileComparison via "as"
- symbolismRepresenting concepts through images
- figurative languageNon-literal modes of expression
allegory · personification · allusion · motif · description · vivid language · sensory detail · word picture · evocation · prose poetry
visualization
Forming mental or graphical images
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- daydreamConscious fantasy while awake
- mind's eyeInternal visualization capacity
reverie · vision · conjuring · picturing · mental picture · dreamscape · musing · contemplation · envisioning · phantasmagoria
symbol
Representational mark or sign
archetype · motif · allegory · representation · insignia · hallmark · semiotics · figurative · parable · iconography
vivid description
Intensely detailed verbal picture
- word paintingMusic that illustrates lyrics
- sensory appealQuality engaging the senses
- rhetorical deviceCalculated language technique for effect
amplification · illustration · ornamentation · eloquence · expressiveness
verse
Metered poetic passage
ode · elegy · lyric · ballad · epic · rhyme · meter · cadence · quatrain · couplet
rendering
Interpretive depiction or performance
- 3DThree-axis spatial representation
- CGIDigital movie imagery
- visualizationForming mental or graphical images
simulation · infographic · graphic design · digital art · computer graphics · animation · virtual reality · augmented reality · pixel art · vector graphics
- literaturebooks, book, fiction, poetry, stories
- literary analysisliterary analysis, character analysis, book review, plot, critical analysis
- literary devicesmetaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration
- poetry termspoetry, rhyme, verse, rhythm, meter
- dream psychologydream analysis, interpretation, symbolism, nightmares, visions
- English literature essaysliterary criticism, critical essays, close reading, character analysis, plot analysis
imageryliteralism
Exact meaning only
denotation · exposition · reportage · technical writing · technical language
imageryabstraction
Distilling to essential qualities
bare facts · intellectualism · data · statistics · formalism
imageryblankness
State of being empty
aphantasia · void · emptiness · vacancy · invisibility
- mirror imageReversed visual duplicate
- graven imagesCarved objects of worship
- mental imageInternal visual representation
- image recognitionIdentifying contents of photos
- public imagePerceived external persona
- spit and imageExact physical likeness