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.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of idealization

First recorded in 1790–1800; idealize + -ation

Example Sentences

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

However, linguists often point out that the concept of a standard accent is better understood as an idealization rather than a reality.

From Salon • Jan. 7, 2023

Whether it’s because they harmonize adoring idealization with the shapes and textures of real women or because of Modigliani’s almost uncanny ability to evoke actual sensation, I can’t say.

From Washington Post • Dec. 29, 2022

“There was an idealization and simplification of the problem that started in the economics literature,” said Robert Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University.

From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2022

Neither Rembrandt nor Velasquez was capable of idealization of form, and so neither left behind him a single painted figure to take its place as a type.

From Art Principles With Special Reference to Painting Together with Notes on the Illusions Produced by the Painter by Govett, Ernest