- Home
- Idioms
- imagination
imagination
beyond imagination
Inconceivable; outside of the realm of imagination, expectation, or anticipation. I find it simply beyond imagination the greed of all these big corporations. That film was amazing, it was actually beyond imagination.
leave nothing to the imagination
1. Of clothing, to hide or cover very little (of the body) or be very revealing. I was quite embarrassed when John showed up for our date wearing ill-fitting jeans that left nothing to the imagination.
2. To present (something) in a very stark or obvious manner. The film is relentlessly blunt with its anti-religious message, leaving nothing to the imagination from beginning to end.
leave little to the imagination
1. Of clothing, to hide or cover very little (of the body) or be very revealing. I was quite embarrassed when John showed up for our date wearing ill-fitting jeans that left little to the imagination.
2. To present (something) in a very stark or obvious manner. The film is relentlessly blunt with its anti-religious message, leaving little to the imagination from beginning to end.
by no stretch of the imagination
Unable to happen within, at, or beyond the limits of the imagination; in no possible situation or from no conceivable perspective. By no stretch of the imagination do I think our team has a chance of winning tonight. Tommy does all right in school, but by no stretch of the imagination would I call him a genius.
figment of (one's)/the imagination
An experience that initially is thought to be real but is actually imagined. I thought I heard the sound of my front door opening last night but it turned out to be a figment of my imagination.
flight of imagination
An imaginative but unrealistic idea. No one took his campaign for office seriously because his proposed solutions to problems were filled with flights of imagination.
be a figment of (one's/the) imagination
To be an imagined experience (especially after one has initially thought it to be real). I thought I heard the sound of my front door opening last night but it turned out to be a figment of my imagination.
by any stretch of the imagination
as much as anyone could imagine; as much as is imaginable. (Often negative.) I don't see how anyone by any stretch of the imagination could fail to understand what my last sentence meant.
capture someone's imagination
Fig. to intrigue someone; to interest someone in a lasting way; to stimulate someone's imagination. The story of the young wizard has captured the imagination of the world's children.
a figment of your imagination
also a figment of the imagination something created by your mind I thought I saw someone standing in the shadows, but it was just a figment of my imagination.
not by any stretch (of the imagination)
also by no stretch (of the imagination) even if you try, it is still difficult to accept
She was never a great player, not by any stretch of the imagination. He's nice-looking but by no stretch of the imagination could you describe him as handsome. Our survey was purely random and by no stretch scientific. Usage notes: sometimes used in the form by any stretch (of the imagination) (even possibly): It's the only plan that could, by any stretch, be relied upon to work.
be a figment of your/the imagination
if something is a figment of your imagination, it seems real although it is not I thought I saw someone standing in the shadows, but it was just a figment of my imagination.
a flight of fancy/fantasy/imagination
an idea which shows a lot of imagination but which is not practical or useful in real situations You were talking about cycling across the US, or was that just another flight of fancy?
not by any stretch of the imagination
also by no stretch of the imagination if you say that by no stretch of the imagination can you describe something or someone in a particular way, you mean that this way of describing them is certainly not correct She was never a great player, not by any stretch of the imagination. He's pleasant looking but by no stretch of the imagination could you describe him as handsome.
See bend the rulesfigment of one's imagination
Something made up, invented, or fabricated, as in "The long dishevelled hair, the swelled black face, the exaggerated stature were figments of imagination" (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847). This term is redundant, since figment means "product of the imagination." [Early 1800s]