What Is Imagery? | Definition & Examples
Imagery refers to language that describes how something looks, tastes, smells, sounds, or feels. By engaging these senses, writers draw readers into the story and immerse them in its atmosphere. Imagery can be found in various forms of writing, including novels, short stories, speeches, and advertising.
My muscles tensed as I could feel the anxiety balling up in my stomach.
I tripped over my shoelace while juggling my morning coffee and car keys.
What is imagery?
Imagery refers to words that trigger the reader to feel, smell, or hear what the characters in the story are experiencing at a given moment. It is a literary device that goes beyond mere description, allowing us to immerse ourselves in the story and feel as if we are truly present in the scene.
For example, instead of simply saying “I ate an apple,” an author using imagery might write “I bit into a red, sweet, juicy apple.” This approach enables us to empathize more fully with the characters and their experiences.
Imagery is what makes words on a page become vivid mental pictures or sensory experiences in the reader’s mind. It enables readers to visualize what is happening in the story and connect more deeply with the subjects being described. Additionally, imagery plays a crucial role in setting the mood and tone of a story, influencing how readers perceive and emotionally respond to the narrative.
Types of imagery
There are different types of imagery, depending on which sense it appeals to.
Visual imagery
This is imagery that appeals to the sense of sight, and it can describe shapes, colors, or patterns—anything that we can perceive visually. In prose, it is often used to describe the characters or the setting of the story.
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze”
In the lines above, Wordsworth creates imagery by using a simile (“as a cloud”) and vivid descriptions that create images in the minds of the readers: the clouds, the color, the movement of the flowers.
Auditory imagery
Auditory imagery appeals to the sense of hearing, allowing writers to create an auditory experience through vivid descriptions. This can include sounds such as the hustle and bustle of a busy street, birds chirping, or the distant murmurs of people conversing from an open window at night. However, dialogue is not considered part of auditory imagery. Techniques such as alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia are often employed to enhance these auditory images.
Here, the words “cracked,” “growled,” “roared,” and “howled” create powerful auditory imagery, with the last three also being examples of onomatopoeia. The reader can hear the noise of the huge ice chunks as they fall into the sea: it is a distant roar as heard by someone in a swooning fit.
Gustatory imagery
Gustatory imagery relates to the sense of taste.Whether it is savoring a rich chocolate cake or swallowing a bitter medicine, gustatory imagery is about descriptions that stimulate the reader’s taste buds. This type of imagery includes food flavors, unpleasant tastes, and the textures and sensations associated with eating.
Olfactory imagery
Olfactory imagery appeals to the sense of smell. Writers use descriptions such as the pungent aroma of gasoline or the musky scent of perfume to help readers understand what characters are experiencing.
Tactile imagery
Tactile imagery appeals to the sense of touch. Writers employ tactile imagery to convey sensations like texture, temperature, dryness, softness etc.—all external sensations that we can feel on the skin.
Kinesthetic imagery
Kinesthetic imagery creates the sensory experience of motion in the mind of the reader. It is the description of physical movement or actions of the characters and objects.
Through the successive occurrence of motion verbs, readers can “see” the protagonist’s movements and feel the intensity of his actions.
Organic imagery
Organic imagery appeals to the internal sensations of a reader. These can either be physical (like thirst) or emotional (like happiness).
Chekhov has used such strong imagery that readers clearly visualize the protagonist and share his emotional state.
Imagery examples
Imagery allows writers to convey experiences rather than just information to the reader. This is also known as the “show, don’t tell” narrative technique.
Showing with imagery: He stood at the bus stop, rubbing his hands together as small clouds of breath escaped into the frosty air.
When we analyze a literary text, we can find different types of imagery working together in the same text.
The following passage from E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web uses a lot of visual imagery to describe what is left after the fair. At the same time, the reader is reminded of the foods and flavors associated with the fair (gustatory imagery), helping the reader to feel connected to the scene.The lights being out and the people gone to bed suggest a silence and stillness (auditory imagery) that contrast with the earlier noise and activity of the fair.
While prose might use more words to describe a scene, poetry tries to capture the same depth of feeling in a much more compact way. This excerpt from T .S. Eliot’s poem uses imagery to create a somber depiction of an urban winter evening.
Here, the imagery moves between concrete sensory details (smell of steaks, withered leaves) and more abstract, metaphorical representations (burnt-out days), creating a rich, layered sensory experience that goes beyond simple description.
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o’clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet
And newspapers from vacant lots;
Frequently asked questions about imagery
- What is an example of imagery?
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The sentence “She yawned and struggled to keep her eyes open” is an example of imagery. Instead of simply stating “She was tired,” an author can use descriptive language to show us how a character is feeling. This enables the reader to visualize the scene and empathize more with the character.
QuillBot’s free Paraphrasing Tool can help you vary your word choice to write more creatively.
- How is imagery different from description?
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Imagery uses descriptive language to create sensory experiences for readers. It engages the senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch, helping readers visualize scenes or feel sensations.
Description, on the other hand, is a broader term that includes detailed accounts of people, places, objects, or events. While it can use imagery, it does not necessarily create sensory experiences. Descriptions may present facts and focus on specific details without trying to evoke emotions.
For example, the sentence “The kitchen was small and cluttered with dishes in the sink” is a description, while “Dirty dishes crowded the sink, their porcelain edges crusted with yesterday’s meals, filling the kitchen with a stale, sour smell” includes imagery.
