idealized image
Americannoun
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a personal standard of perfection against which one's actual thinking, behavior, and appearance are compared.
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an exaggerated and unrealistic view of one's virtues and abilities.
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.
“The early tradition of children’s books was all about the idealized image of childhood,” Mr. Marcus said.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
She’s an idealized image, a manic pixie dream dead sister, one that Lennon can never live up to, and she also never feels like a real person.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2022
On a sunny day, the area is at its postcard best, and much of the lake lives up to that idealized image.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 20, 2021
Reasons cited for the disorder include extreme culture shock and exhaustion, but the root cause seems to be a dramatic difference between the idealized image of Paris as presented in Japanese media and the reality.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2017
The idealized image of Venice herself meets us everywhere.
From A Critic in Pall Mall Being Extracts from Reviews and Miscellanies by Oscar Wilde
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.
