idealization

American  

[ahy-dee-uh-luh-zey-shuhn] / aɪˌdi ə ləˈzeɪ ʃən /

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.

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idealization British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of idealization

First recorded in 1790–1800; idealize + -ation

Example Sentences

“Obsession” has ideas about our age of instant gratification and parasocial idealization fueled by social media that the film never manages to do anything more than wag a finger at.

From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026

Clare, too, receives frequent rhapsodic praise, but even accounting for the narrator’s grief-induced idealization, their relationship strikes me as too perfect.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

As a man who’s always on the right side of history, he manages to embody the idealization of the American spirit while critiquing its difficult reality.

From New York Times • May 24, 2023

Rubens, raising the temperature of the scene, amplifies the idealization by transforming the almost stately frieze into a blockbuster drama of good supplanting evil.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 6, 2021

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

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 8 "Germany" to "Gibson, William" by Various