idealization

[ ahy-dee-uh-luh-zey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act or process of idealizing something.
2. Psychoanalysis. a mental mechanism, operating consciously or unconsciously, in which one person overestimates an admired attribute of another.

idealization

/ aɪˌdɪəlaɪˈzeɪʃən /

noun

1. the representation of something as ideal
2. a conception of something that dwells on its advantages and ignores its deficiencies
3. a general theoretical account of natural phenomena that ignores features that are difficult to accommodate within a theory

Word History and Origins

Origin of idealization¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; idealize + -ation

Example Sentences

But there is a messy middle territory between demonization and idealization.

From The Daily Beast

This de-idealization came about, in part, Hall argues, because artists were now wealthy and powerful enough to mock themselves.

From The Daily Beast

The irony is that the idealization of Earp as a good guy with a gun, an unswerving servant of law and order, is a myth.

From The Daily Beast

Admittedly, a lot of undeserved cultural authority will have to erode before this idealization can materialize.

From The Daily Beast

The force of such idealization helped to carry forward the human race to a new milestone on the path of progress.

From Project Gutenberg

Such views and sentiments are incompatible with the idealization of a benevolent despotism.

From Project Gutenberg

The two genuine modes of idealization, the subjective and the objective, are not always easy to be reconciled.

From Project Gutenberg

I felt that the necessary idealization could only be attained by adopting the clothing of the past.

From Project Gutenberg

After the Antonines, the events are related with simple truth to nature, as a mere chronicle, without any idealization at all.

From Project Gutenberg