idealize

American  

[ahy-dee-uh-lahyz] / aɪˈdi əˌlaɪz /

especially British, idealise

verb (used with object)

• idealizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• idealized,
  past participle,  past
• idealizing
  present participle

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

---

verb (used without object)

• idealizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• idealized,
  past participle,  past
• idealizing
  present participle

1. to represent something in an ideal form.

idealize British  

/ aɪˈdɪəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. to consider or represent (something) as ideal

2. (tr) to portray as ideal; glorify

3. (intr) to form an ideal or ideals

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• idealizer
  noun
• overidealize
  verb
• unidealized
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• idealizing
  present
• idealized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• idealize
  simple
• idealizes
  simple
• have idealized
  perfect
• has idealized
  perfect
• am idealizing
  progressive
• are idealizing
  progressive
• is idealizing
  progressive
• have been idealizing
  perfect progressive
• has been idealizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• idealized
  simple
• had idealized
  perfect
• was idealizing
  progressive
• were idealizing
  progressive
• had been idealizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will idealize
  simple
• will have idealized
  perfect
• will be idealizing
  progressive
• will have been idealizing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of idealize

First recorded in 1780–90; ideal + -ize

Explanation

When you idealize something, you think of it as being much better than it really is. You might idealize your beach vacation, completely forgetting that it rained almost every day. If you idealize your favorite teacher, you imagine that he's even more wonderful than he actually is. Many people tend to idealize marriage, believing that simply being married will make them and their partners blissfully happy all the time. To idealize is to take an ordinary, flawed thing, and turn it into something ideal. In fact, ideal, or "perfect," is at the heart of idealize, with its root of the Latin idealis, or "existing in idea."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

idealize idealizes idealized idealizing

I know “quiet” is loaded — a synonym for normalcy, or what we idealize as normal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2023

A number of Googlers I spoke with framed January’s job cuts—which took place via email—as a wake-up call for Googlers who still idealize their employer.

From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2023

“I am going to speak out against those who praise fascist murderers and idealize extremists. I am going to speak out against Holocaust deniers. I’m going to call those out who won’t do it.”

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2023

The San Antonio artist doesn’t idealize her family background, however.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2022

Only I can’t seem to keep that up for too long before my natural urge to idealize goes into effect.

From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley

Called "splitting," Behr defined this as "the person devalues and idealizes you or others."

From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2023

But then, “The Offer” also idealizes Evans, who did a pretty good job of that himself in his memoir and subsequent documentary “The Kid Stays in the Picture.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2022

It’s an amusing curiosity as well as a commentary on a nation that idealizes both the open road and an angry duck with a speech impediment.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2021

Because he was the only straight, cis man I ever dated, she idealizes him.

From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2021

Just as he idealizes Caroline, he paints the Loyers as the perfect mother and daughter.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

The concept is illustrated by the Carnot cycle, an idealized model that defines the maximum theoretical efficiency of a heat engine by carefully regulating the movement of heat between hot and cold regions.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

But “Do the Right Thing” remains with us, its urgency and relevance undiminished, waiting for an America open to listen and live up to its idealized aspirations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

His stunning, idealized view of the Rockies, here in Wyoming, helped lure pioneers westward.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

The staginess that sinks many of his other pictures portended a digital age where all images would trend toward idealized, Photoshopped perfection.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Over the next several months, as it often happens, I managed to erase the story’s flaws from my memory, taking pride in a shadowy, idealized recollection of its virtues.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

“They start idealizing their old culture; suddenly things seem much nicer than when they lived at home,” she said.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

This verdict is in keeping with the tenor of the last 50 years of classical scholarship, which has moved past—perhaps too far past—any idealizing visions of Pericles and Athens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Amélie grows up convinced she is Japanese and idealizing her family’s temporary host country.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025

Yes — but I don’t think I’m idealizing the past by suggesting that there used to be more restraint, more opprobrium associated with selling out too obviously.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 21, 2022

Not a lot, but enough to keep a dreamer from idealizing the object of his long fascination.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• glorify