idealize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to consider or represent (something) as ideal
-
(tr) to portray as ideal; glorify
-
(intr) to form an ideal or ideals
Other Word Forms
- idealizer noun
- overidealize verb
- unidealized adjective
Etymology
Origin of idealize
Explanation
When you idealize something, you think of it as being much better than it really is. You might idealize your beach vacation, completely forgetting that it rained almost every day. If you idealize your favorite teacher, you imagine that he's even more wonderful than he actually is. Many people tend to idealize marriage, believing that simply being married will make them and their partners blissfully happy all the time. To idealize is to take an ordinary, flawed thing, and turn it into something ideal. In fact, ideal, or "perfect," is at the heart of idealize, with its root of the Latin idealis, or "existing in idea."
Vocabulary lists containing idealize
When Fake is Real: Young People Rebel Against Instagram, Via Instagram
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"A Village After Dark" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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Life As We Knew It
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Historian Quinn Slobodian joins Felix Salmon to discuss the tech billionaires who idealize a world without democracy.
From Slate • Feb. 4, 2025
It’s easy to idealize the ’60s, but I wonder how it compares to today, in terms of your ability to get things done as an activist?
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2023
“I am going to speak out against those who praise fascist murderers and idealize extremists. I am going to speak out against Holocaust deniers. I’m going to call those out who won’t do it.”
From Seattle Times • Jan. 12, 2023
The San Antonio artist doesn’t idealize her family background, however.
From Washington Post • Dec. 15, 2022
Many, including Enrique, begin to idealize their mothers.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
