Synonyms

realize

American

[ree-uh-lahyz] / ˈri əˌlaɪz /

especially British, realise

verb (used with object)

to grasp or understand clearly.

Synonyms:

comprehend, conceive

Antonyms:

misunderstand
to make real; give reality to (a hope, fear, plan, etc.).

Synonyms:

effect, accomplish
to bring vividly to the mind.
to convert into cash or money.

to realize securities.
to obtain as a profit or income for oneself by trade, labor, or investment.
to bring as proceeds, as from a sale.

The goods realized $1000.
Music. to sight-read on a keyboard instrument or write out in notation the full harmony and ornamentation indicated by (a figured bass).
Linguistics. to serve as an instance, representation, or embodiment of (an abstract linguistic element or category).

In “Jack tripped,” the subject is realized by “Jack,” the predicate by “tripped,” and the past tense by “-ed.”

verb (used without object)

to convert property or goods into cash or money.

realize British

/ ˈrɪəˌlaɪz /

verb

(when tr, may take a clause as object) to become conscious or aware of (something)
(tr, often passive) to bring (a plan, ambition, etc) to fruition; make actual or concrete
(tr) to give (something, such as a drama or film) the appearance of reality
(tr) (of goods, property, etc) to sell for or make (a certain sum)

this table realized £800
(tr) to convert (property or goods) into cash
(tr)
1. to expand or complete (a thorough-bass part in a piece of baroque music) by supplying the harmonies indicated in the figured bass
2. to reconstruct (a composition) from an incomplete set of parts
to sound or utter (a phoneme or other speech sound) in actual speech; articulate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See imagine.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of realize

First recorded in 1605–15; from French réaliser, Middle French, equivalent to real real ¹ + -iser -ize

Explanation

When you realize something, you become fully aware of what is happening, like when you realize all the people in your basement who are smiling at you and starting to sing to you are there because it's your birthday. Surprise! Realize usually describes the moment your thoughts click, like the moment you close the door behind you, you realize you don't have your keys. You are locked out! So you knock on your neighbor's door. You realize, here meaning that you are fully aware, that she might not appreciate having to help you because she's trying to leave for work. You tell her your new goal is to be more organized. She says, until you realize, or reach, that goal, you better hide an extra key somewhere in your yard.

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Vocabulary lists containing realize

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

realize realizes realized realizing

Considering the market is always forward-looking, the move in these beaten-down asset classes will come long before most investors realize it.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026

Only when the next NFL season began, Urschel came to realize that he had made a terrible miscalculation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

“We feel so singular in our pain, lonely in our pain in a way and then you realize it’s very much a shared experience,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

“Do you realize what your decisions are doing to my family and my community?” she wanted to ask.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

I realize now that his eyes weren’t merely glassy from drink downstairs but shiny from tears.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Or is about to when she realizes her squatter is Misty Green, minor celebrity, and so grants her a week until eviction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

“Maybe at first it felt Big Brotherish, but my mom realizes now that she needs to hand this over to me.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

The Marvel Cinematic Universe can only expand so many times before one realizes it’s not actually going anywhere.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

But when he tries to text her the next day, he realizes the number she gave him is missing a digit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

It’s flat, but as she goes, she realizes that the trail isn’t in the best condition.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

But businesses grappling with mounting costs as more employees experimented with artificial intelligence realized they didn’t always need the most advanced options for most tasks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Kearns realized along the way that his path to stardom wouldn’t be so simple.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

When the band finished with the album, I realized that because I had not paid attention, I had no idea what was next.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026

"When I first saw the construction site at Rooppur, I realized how much work lay ahead on this project... honestly, Rooppur changed me and my life," he told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

But even as I opened my mouth, I realized how naïve the words would sound.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Any coach who says “I don’t want to know” where a transfer lives to escape accountability might want to start realizing an entire program can go down when they abdicate responsibility.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

Praying for a rain delay, I found myself innings deep into “Team Moms: Baseball” before realizing that, like Bryce Harper looking at a ghost fork, I’d fallen victim to my own myopia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

He actually uses his reservations, but you can imagine people using agents to hoard tables, or the human user not realizing the agent booked a table and the restaurant being stuck with a no-show.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

Maybe the answer is waking up and realizing you don’t have to hit the drive-thru for breakfast.

From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026

Even though I’ve always been a fan of how big Autumn’s yard is, I’m now realizing how inconvenient it is when chasing a tiny primate.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023