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.

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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

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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

Historian Quinn Slobodian joins Felix Salmon to discuss the tech billionaires who idealize a world without democracy.

From Slate ● Feb. 4, 2025

With a book by Jessie Nelson adapted from Adrienne Shelly‘s film script, “Waitress” has a humanizing matter-of-factness about tropes that other theatrical stories about women often idealize.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 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

“They idealize a world where the right kinds of people participate,” Perry said.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 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

Like her, he idealizes love, remembering Bronco Henry as part of a bygone generation of “real men” and attributing all his ranching success to his deceased lover.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 25, 2021

Nora idealizes Edmund’s “perfect” life — attending an elite school, working at high-paying tech jobs, living away from home — without realizing that he’s as unhappy as she is.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 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

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

According to Cottrill, the group pushed for repeated aesthetic changes to make Trump appear slimmer and more idealized than the photographic references he was initially using.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

Nevertheless, his idealized parabolic trajectory in a vacuum was an essential precondition for the much more sophisticated analysis by Robins and Euler of actual trajectories.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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

“He’s trying to re-create his childhood and idealizing something that was less than ideal,” Cumberbatch said.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2024

“We have a way of idealizing and protecting auteurs and putting them on such a pedestal that they become untouchable,” says Godrèche of French attitudes about cinema.

From Seattle Times ● May 15, 2024

We need to stop idealizing war and idolizing its so-called warriors.

From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2019

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