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Synonyms

realize

American

[ree-uh-lahyz] / ˈri əˌlaɪz /

especially British, realise

verb (used with object)

to grasp or understand clearly.

Synonyms:

comprehend, conceive

Antonyms:

misunderstand
to make real; give reality to (a hope, fear, plan, etc.).

Synonyms:

effect, accomplish
to bring vividly to the mind.
to convert into cash or money.

to realize securities.
to obtain as a profit or income for oneself by trade, labor, or investment.
to bring as proceeds, as from a sale.

The goods realized $1000.
Music. to sight-read on a keyboard instrument or write out in notation the full harmony and ornamentation indicated by (a figured bass).
Linguistics. to serve as an instance, representation, or embodiment of (an abstract linguistic element or category).

In “Jack tripped,” the subject is realized by “Jack,” the predicate by “tripped,” and the past tense by “-ed.”

verb (used without object)

to convert property or goods into cash or money.

realize British

/ ˈrɪəˌlaɪz /

verb

(when tr, may take a clause as object) to become conscious or aware of (something)
(tr, often passive) to bring (a plan, ambition, etc) to fruition; make actual or concrete
(tr) to give (something, such as a drama or film) the appearance of reality
(tr) (of goods, property, etc) to sell for or make (a certain sum)

this table realized £800
(tr) to convert (property or goods) into cash
(tr)
1. to expand or complete (a thorough-bass part in a piece of baroque music) by supplying the harmonies indicated in the figured bass
2. to reconstruct (a composition) from an incomplete set of parts
to sound or utter (a phoneme or other speech sound) in actual speech; articulate

"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

Synonym Usage

See imagine.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of realize

First recorded in 1605–15; from French réaliser, Middle French, equivalent to real real ¹ + -iser -ize

Explanation

When you realize something, you become fully aware of what is happening, like when you realize all the people in your basement who are smiling at you and starting to sing to you are there because it's your birthday. Surprise! Realize usually describes the moment your thoughts click, like the moment you close the door behind you, you realize you don't have your keys. You are locked out! So you knock on your neighbor's door. You realize, here meaning that you are fully aware, that she might not appreciate having to help you because she's trying to leave for work. You tell her your new goal is to be more organized. She says, until you realize, or reach, that goal, you better hide an extra key somewhere in your yard.

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Vocabulary lists containing realize

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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.

See Examples For:

realize realizes realized realizing

It comes back to owning a business in a way you might not even realize.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Lorenzo Hernandez, the football coach and athletic director at Whittier and former head football coach at Garfield, said a comment from a player made him realize to change tactics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

For one, it was a blast of cold coffee to the face to realize that what qualifies as a career-derailing flop in 2006 meets or beats the quality of most made-for-Netflix features.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

The only question is, when companies realize they cut too deeply, will there be enough bosses willing and able to step up?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

All I know is that I am watching Theo and he doesn’t realize it, and he reaches up to brush a hand—smudged with graphite, precise architect hands—across his cheek.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

There are moments in life when one realizes one has accidentally become an unpaid educational resource for highly remunerated people.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

The Marvel Cinematic Universe can only expand so many times before one realizes it’s not actually going anywhere.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

“I’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. ...People from San Diego up to Eureka and Humboldt, everybody is mobilizing because everybody realizes what’s at risk.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

There comes a point at which a woman realizes she’s a lot closer in age to Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give” than Amanda Peet, and she’s OK with that.

From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026

So even Ms. Morales realizes Mom is in danger?

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

That’s when I realized something uncomfortable: I may be continuing this friendship partly because I like to get away from my husband and kids, but also because I’m too scared to end it.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

In the process of experimentation, Xavi said, he realized the goal of his latest album was to “go worldwide” and break down “barriers between genres.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

But as the day went on, Schlamminger realized there was a problem.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

This past January, deep in winter pasta mode, I realized the supermarket had followed her.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

As a wintry dawn crept through the windows, I realized it was Christmas Day.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Unlike Google, Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.7 model didn’t stop during the capture-the-flag exercise after realizing it was likely accessing a real company, according to Anthropic’s blog post.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

It’s easy to read the report and come away with the idea that eating too many granola bars or bags of pretzels could be doing harm to your family without you realizing it.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

After realizing a swarm of AI agents broke out of testing and hacked rival companies, OpenAI paused AI training for new models temporarily and promised to strengthen its cyberdefenses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

"A key challenge faced by biomimetic science is realizing environmentally friendly material designs inspired by nature at the scale and cost of existing materials," said Assoc.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

Then, perhaps realizing he had nothing to lose, he snatched the cup and glugged it down.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

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