意象主义是发生于20世纪初提倡在英裔美国人诗歌中使用精准的意象和清晰、犀利的语言的运动。意象主义被认为是自前拉斐尔运动之后英语诗歌界最有影响力的运动。 意象主义运动促进了现代主义运动在20世纪初的诞生， 并且被认为是英语语言首个有组织的现代主义文学运动。 有时人们会认为意象主义是“一连串的创造性时刻”，而不是一个连续的发展时期。雷奈·多班评论道：“更准确地来说，意象主义既不是一项准则，也不是一个诗歌流派，而是一些诗人在一小部分重要原则上达成的一致意见。”

与意象主义同时代的诗人，比如格鲁吉亚派诗人大都遵循浪漫主义和维多利亚诗歌的风格进行创作，但意象主义派诗人拒绝接受这种多愁善感和漫无边际的风格。他们提倡回归一种类似古典派的标准，例如提倡语言的直白简练，采用非传统的诗歌形式。意象派诗人采用自由诗体。

Imagism was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language.

Imagism has been described as the most influential movement in English poetry since the activity of the Pre-Raphaelites. As a poetic style it gave Modernism its start in the early 20th century, and is considered to be the first organized Modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism is sometimes viewed as 'a succession of creative moments' rather than any continuous or sustained period of development. René Taupin remarked that 'It is more accurate to consider Imagism not as a doctrine, nor even as a poetic school, but as the association of a few poets who were for a certain time in agreement on a small number of important principles'.