idealized image

American  

noun

Psychology.

1. a personal standard of perfection against which one's actual thinking, behavior, and appearance are compared.

2. an exaggerated and unrealistic view of one's virtues and abilities.

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Example Sentences

In a piece for the Psychology Today website, Bence Nanay summarized it thusly: “When you do get to stand in front of the Taj Mahal, this moment will never live up to the idealized image that is the goal state of your desire. There are wasps. Taxi drivers keep on bugging you to get them to be your tour guide. You have a headache. You need to pee. And so on.”

From MarketWatch

"Although this idealized image of a free and harmonious American society is undeniably marred by the institution and legacy of slavery, overlooking the role of education and science as prerequisites for freedom and equality diminishes our ability to assess the historical and contemporary limits of American democracy critically."

From Salon

French National Assembly member Aurélie Trouvé told us that the program “is definitely connected to the Games and the need to offer a ‘clean,’ idealized image, even though it means that thousands of people are pushed afar.”

From Los Angeles Times

“The early tradition of children’s books was all about the idealized image of childhood,” Mr. Marcus said.

From New York Times

On its own, the collapse of SVB would probably not have done a whole bunch to dismantle the idealized image of tech billionaires as bounteous stewards of American society.

From Salon