idealize

[ ahy-dee-uh-lahyz ]
See synonyms for idealize on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),i·de·al·ized, i·de·al·iz·ing.
  1. to make ideal; represent in an ideal form or character; exalt to an ideal perfection or excellence.

verb (used without object),i·de·al·ized, i·de·al·iz·ing.
  1. to represent something in an ideal form.

Origin of idealize

1
First recorded in 1780–90; ideal + -ize
  • Also especially British, i·de·al·ise .

Other words from idealize

  • i·de·al·iz·er, noun
  • o·ver·i·de·al·ize, verb, o·ver·i·de·al·ized, o·ver·i·de·al·iz·ing.
  • un·i·de·al·ized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use idealize in a sentence

  • The Athenians killed Socrates, but they produced a Plato to idealise and even to immortalise him.

    Impressions And Comments | Havelock Ellis
  • I will idealise you until you besmirch yourself—but you are no child, to do that unknowingly.

    The Barrier | Allen French
  • You idealise the fair ones of Great Poland in a way they do not deserve.

    Napoleon's Letters to Josephine | Henry Foljambe Hall
  • Thus, perhaps, did the new pagans of the Renaissance lovingly idealise "that mutilated stone which guards the bridge."

    The Story of Florence | Edmund G. Gardner
  • A nave tendency to idealise his own virtues he certainly shares with other moralists.

British Dictionary definitions for idealize

idealize

idealise

/ (aɪˈdɪəˌlaɪz) /


verb
  1. to consider or represent (something) as ideal

  2. (tr) to portray as ideal; glorify

  1. (intr) to form an ideal or ideals

Derived forms of idealize

  • idealizer or idealiser, noun

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