Envisage — A Vocabulary Story
Joao and the Wonky Wardrobe
Joao had a job to do, and it was a wobbly one. His mum, Beatriz, had bought a flat-pack wardrobe, and now three hundred bits lay scattered across the bedroom floor like a jigsaw made by a very confused octopus.
"Right," said Joao, rolling up his sleeves. "Before I build it, I have to envisage it."
Envisage means to picture or imagine something in your mind, especially as a future possibility. It also means to expect or believe that something will happen.
He closed his eyes and tried to picture the finished wardrobe: tall, neat, with two smart doors. But instead, his brain kept showing him a giant biscuit tin. He shook his head and tried again.
"Can you envisage where the shelves go?" asked his little brother, Tomas, holding a screw in each nostril, which was NOT helpful.
"Take those out," said Joao, giggling. "And yes. I can envisage it perfectly. Shelf here. Rail there. Nothing on your nose."
Bang, twist, click. Joao worked like a busy little robot. Bit by bit, the pile of bits became something wardrobe-shaped. Well, almost. One door hung sideways, like it was doing a yoga pose.
"Hmm," said Joao, tilting his head. "That is not what I envisaged."
He unscrewed the wonky door, flipped it the right way up, and tried once more. This time it swung open beautifully.
Beatriz peeped round the corner. "You did it!"
"I saw it in my head first," said Joao proudly, patting the wardrobe. "Then my hands caught up."
Tomas clapped, dropped a screw, and immediately began hunting for it under the bed, bottom wiggling in the air like a happy little duck.
Word Definition
envisage
meaning
to picture or imagine something in your mind, especially as a future possibility; to expect or believe that something will happen
synonyms
imagine · visualise · foresee · picture · anticipate
antonyms
disregard · overlook · ignore
example sentence
I envisage a bright future for our school.