materialize

American  

[muh-teer-ee-uh-lahyz] / məˈtɪər i əˌlaɪz /

especially British, materialise

verb (used without object)

materialized, materializing

1. to come into perceptible existence; appear; become actual or real; be realized or carried out.

   Our plans never materialized.

   Synonyms:

   issue, rise, show, emerge

2. to assume material or bodily form; become corporeal.

   The ghost materialized before Hamlet.

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verb (used with object)

materialized, materializing

1. to give material form to; realize.

   This year, she materialized her long-held ambition to go to law school.

2. to invest with material attributes.

   The writer materializes the more abstract ideas with metaphors, making the concepts easier to grasp.

3. to make physically perceptible; cause (a spirit or the like) to appear in bodily form.

4. to render materialistic.

materialize British  

/ məˈtɪərɪəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. (intr) to become fact; actually happen

   our hopes never materialized

2. to invest or become invested with a physical shape or form

3. to cause (a spirit, as of a dead person) to appear in material form or (of a spirit) to appear in such form

4. (intr) to take shape; become tangible

   after hours of discussion, the project finally began to materialize

5. physics to form (material particles) from energy, as in pair production

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Other Word Forms

• materialization
  noun
• materializer
  noun
• rematerialize
  verb
• unmaterialized
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of materialize

First recorded in 1700–10; material + -ize

Explanation

When you materialize, you show up suddenly after being missing, unborn, or unseen. Think of Harry Potter removing his invisibility cloak. He materializes. Living things aren't the only things that materialize. Car keys and reading glasses materialize when you've been searching for them for a while and then they are suddenly there on the table. If you're lucky an unexpected business deal will materialize. Like material, the word is related to the Latin word meaning "matter." Matter, is, of course, all the stuff of this earth, anything and everything that takes form. So to materialize is to take form.

Example Sentences

Still, investors should be cautious in assuming all those promises will fully materialize.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

Of course, it’s still possible that Trump’s arch, Reflecting Pool paint job, and other proposed architectural changes won’t materialize, at least in full.

From Slate • May 18, 2026

Nobody’s certain how many visitors will materialize for the anniversary year, but the shop is bursting with merchandise.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026

The airline had been trying to stay afloat with the help of the U.S. government, but a bailout failed to materialize.

From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026

As I watch, power-ups materialize over the steel walls and along the edge of the lake’s waters, the colorful marbles lining the bridges both over and under.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

Related Words

• appear
• emerge
• happen
• occur
• realize
• take place
• turn up
• unfold