aphantasia

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
15
Words With Friends
16
Letters
10
Pronunciation
/ˌeɪ.fænˈteɪ.zɪ.ə/
See all 4 pronunciations
/ˌeɪ.fænˈteɪ.zɪ.ə/ · /ˌeɪ.fænˈteɪ.ʒə/ · /ˌeɪˌfænˈteɪ.zi.ə/ · /ˌeɪˌfænˈteɪ.ʒə/

Definition of aphantasia

1 sense · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (uncountable)A condition where one does not possess a functioning "mind's eye" and cannot visualize imagery.
    “Certain people, researchers have discovered, can't summon up mental images—it's as if their mind's eye is blind. This month in the journal Cortex, the condition received a name: aphantasia, based on the Greek word phantasia, which Aristotle used to describe the power that presents visual imagery to our minds. […] If aphantasia is real, it is possible that injury causes some cases while others begin at birth.”
    “That's when I discovered I had aphantasia, the inability to conjure mental images. Little is known about the condition, but its impact on my education led me to wonder about how it might be impacting others. […] [A]phantasia not only impacts people's learning experiences; it also extends into their personal lives. Not being able to visualize means never picturing the faces of family or close friends and remembering images as abstract information.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From a- (prefix meaning ‘opposite of; without’) + phantasia, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, prefix forming words having senses opposite to the stems or words to which the prefix is…

See full etymology

From a- (prefix meaning ‘opposite of; without’) + phantasia, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, prefix forming words having senses opposite to the stems or words to which the prefix is attached) + φᾰντᾰσῐ́ᾱ (phăntăsĭ́ā, “appearance, look; image; impression, perception”). Φᾰντᾰσῐ́ᾱ (Phăntăsĭ́ā) is derived from φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phắntăsĭs) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns); and φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς (phắntăsĭs) from φᾰντᾰ́ζω (phăntắzō, “to make visible, show; to become visible”), from φᾰντός (phăntós, “visible”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to cause to appear, reveal; to give light, shine”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to be visible, appear; to shine”). The English word was coined by the British neurologist Adam Zeman (born 1957) and his collaborators Michaela Dewar and the Italian neurologist Sergio Della Sala (born 1955) in a 2015 article published in Cortex.

Words you can make from aphantasia

200+ playable · top: APHASIA (12 pts)

Best play aphasia 12 points

7-letter words

8 words

6-letter words

13 words

5-letter words

42 words

4-letter words

72 words

3-letter words

55 words

2-letter words

9 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

A single letter you can add to aphantasia to make another valid word.

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