glamorize

American

[glam-uh-rahyz] / ˈglæm əˌraɪz /

especially British, glamourise or glamourize

verb (used with object)

glamorized, glamorizing

to make glamorous.
to glorify or romanticize.

an adventure film that tended to glamorize war.

glamorize British

/ ˈɡlæməˌraɪz /

verb

(tr) to cause to be or seem glamorous; romanticize or beautify

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

glamorization noun
glamorizer noun
overglamorize verb (used with object)
overglamourize verb (used with object)
unglamorized adjective
unglamourized adjective

Etymology

Origin of glamorize

An Americanism dating back to 1935–40; glamor ( def. ) + -ize

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.

It didn’t valorize or glamorize the economic downturn; it just portrayed it in the way that the people who lived there experienced it.

From Salon • Jan. 27, 2026

Glamorous as the exiles are, Kentridge does not glamorize them.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 8, 2025

Michael Mann’s Ferrari may glamorize speed, but Mann isn’t shy about showing its consequences.

From Slate • Nov. 27, 2023

While Mr. Earnest was careful not to glamorize intelligence work, he also seemed to enjoy occasionally pulling back the curtain on the life of the spy.

From New York Times • Feb. 19, 2022

“I suppose I did glamorize it a bit,” he admitted.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023