Basic Details
Word: Imagery
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Words in a poem or story that create pictures in the reader's mind; also, pictures or images taken together.
How to Spell Imagery
Syllables: im - age - ry
Tricky part: It is image + ry, so the e of image stays: imagery, not imagry or imagary. There is only one m.
Watch out for: imagry, imagary, immagery
Memory tip: Brave keeps its e in bravery, and image keeps its e in imagery. Write the whole word image first, then add ry.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The poem's imagery of mustard fields and kites made me think of my village in January.
Example 2: Our teacher asked us to underline the imagery in the first stanza.
Example 3: The film used dark, stormy imagery to show the hero's fear.
Fun Fact
Weather scientists use satellite imagery, pictures taken from space, to follow cyclones as they form over the Bay of Bengal.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. personnification 2. metafor 3. imagery 4. simily
a) a comparison using like or as
b) words that create pictures in the reader's mind
c) a word used to describe something as if it were something else
d) giving human qualities to a thing
Show answer
b) words that create pictures in the reader's mind. Metaphor has ph, simile ends in -ile and personification has one n after the o, so only imagery stands.
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix -ry to make a real word. Choose it:
-ry
a) gentle
b) happy
c) quiet
d) image
Show answer
d) image. Image plus ry gives imagery, while the other three make their nouns with -ness instead.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
immagery
a) r
b) g
c) a
d) m
Show answer
d) m. Imagery has a single m, the same as image.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A poet who writes 'the moon was a silver coin in the sky' is using ____.
a) imagery
b) rhyme
c) dialogue
d) a question
Show answer
a) imagery
2. Imagery appeals mainly to the reader's ____.
a) timetable
b) handwriting
c) senses
d) bank balance
Show answer
c) senses
