to imagine away
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to be indispensable
To remove or block out in one's imagination. Usually used in the negative ('nicht wegzudenken sein') to express that someone or something has become indispensable.
Smartphones sind aus unserem Alltag nicht mehr wegzudenken.
Smartphones have become indispensable in our everyday lives.
to imagine away
To consciously ignore something or mentally remove it from a situation in order to focus on other aspects.
Wenn man die hohen Kosten für einen Moment wegdenkt, ist es ein fantastisches Projekt.
If you imagine away the high costs for a moment, it is a fantastic project.
'Wegdenken' (to imagine away) is a separable verb. The prefix 'weg-' comes at the end in a main clause. In subordinate clauses and in the infinitive with 'zu', the verb stays together.
Manchmal möchte ich meine Sorgen einfach wegdenken.
Sometimes I just want to imagine my worries away.
The most common use is the fixed expression 'nicht mehr wegzudenken sein' (to have become indispensable). It means that someone or something has become indispensable or an integral part.
Das Internet ist aus dem modernen Leben nicht mehr wegzudenken.
The internet has become indispensable in modern life.
In this meaning, 'wegdenken' (to imagine away) describes a conscious mental action. You ask someone to imagine a situation without a particular element.
Denk mal den ganzen Stress weg, dann war es doch ein schöner Urlaub.
Just imagine all the stress away; then it was actually a nice vacation.
to ignore
Ignorieren and wegdenken can both mean not taking an existing circumstance into account. Ignorieren describes how you deal with the circumstance, while wegdenken mentally removes it from the situation. Use wegdenken when you want to imagine the situation without that circumstance.
Sie dachte die hohen Kosten weg und stellte sich die Reise ohne dieses Problem vor.
She mentally set aside the high costs and imagined the trip without that problem.
Sie ignorierte die hohen Kosten und entschied sich trotzdem für die Reise.
She ignored the high costs and decided to go on the trip anyway.
