idealize

[ ahy-dee-uh-lahyz ]

See synonyms for: idealize idealized on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),i·de·al·ized, i·de·al·iz·ing.

to make ideal; represent in an ideal form or character; exalt to an ideal perfection or excellence.

verb (used without object),i·de·al·ized, i·de·al·iz·ing.

to represent something in an ideal form.

Origin of idealize

First recorded in 1780–90; ideal + -ize

Also especially British, i·de·al·ise .

Other words from idealize

i·de·al·iz·er, noun
o·ver·i·de·al·ize, verb, o·ver·i·de·al·ized, o·ver·i·de·al·iz·ing.
un·i·de·al·ized, adjective

Words Nearby idealize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use idealize in a sentence

Despite being aware that I was prone to cognitive biases, I still idealized Taiwan, ignoring the unbearably hot summers and the concrete buildings stained from countless rainstorms.
Am I still Chinese enough? | Vivian Hir ’25 | February 23, 2022 | MIT Technology Review
Looking back at the fevered pace of our footprints over the past 175 years, we tend to idealize the modesty of theirs.
How we drained California dry | Mark Arax | December 16, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
It’s part of the function of a very active imagination, to sort of idealize your world and to think yourself into this romance.
The Mom Who Stole the Blueprints for the Atomic Bomb (The Freakonomics Radio Book Club Ep. 11) | Sarah Lyall | September 25, 2021 | Freakonomics
Like many young girls, Flores used to idealize a thinner body.
Penthouse Forum’s Kelly Shibari and the Rise of Plus-Size Porn Stars | Aurora Snow | May 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Take note of the characteristics which are peculiar to your model, and use them; do not change them nor idealize them.
The Painter in Oil | Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst

Once settled on the new land, however, immigrants inevitably remember and idealize the home they have left.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology | Robert E. Park
When Dora is married he will idealize her, and assure himself that her marriage is the tragedy of both their lives.
The Man Between | Amelia E. Barr
Love is their chief motive,they either idealize or degrade it,and of the love we women long for most, they have no conception.
The Sorrows of Satan | Marie Corelli
The bubble of her imagining of Lawson was pricked for the moment by it; it is hard to idealize what another despises.
The Wayfarers | Mary Stewart Cutting

British Dictionary definitions for idealize

idealize

idealise

/ (aɪˈdɪəˌlaɪz) /

verb

to consider or represent (something) as ideal
(tr) to portray as ideal; glorify

(intr) to form an ideal or ideals

Derived forms of idealize

idealizer or idealiser, noun

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

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