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

Example Sentences

The solidarity DeShazier hopes for, he said, has yet to materialize.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

The geopolitical headwinds are expected to have labor implications, but they also will take time to materialize since job recruitment typically takes four to eight weeks.

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

That concern is particularly heightened if a fire doesn’t materialize — less of an issue for hurricanes.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

The second will arrive in the third and fourth quarters of 2026, when spring planting shortfalls materialize in grain and oilseed harvest data.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

Ama saw a streak of white materialize at the girl’s throat as her dæmon effortfully changed into a long, sinuous, snowy-furred creature with brilliant black eyes and black-tipped tail, and laid himself alongside her neck.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

Related Words

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