Idealize

Podcast 1 · Introduction

Idealize

A documentary-style narration: origin, meaning, and feel.

Part of speech

verb

Pronunciation

eye-DEE-uh-lyze  /aɪˈdɪəlʌɪz/

Definition

To regard or represent something or someone as ideal, often seeing them as better than they really are; to attribute qualities of perfection to someone or something beyond what is justified by reality; in art and literature, to portray subjects in a perfected rather than realistic form.

Plain meaning

To idealize means to see someone or something as perfect or far better than they really are — you idealize a former relationship when you remember only the good parts. In art, to idealize a figure means to make them more beautiful or heroic than a realistic portrait would. Idealizing a person sets up expectations they can never meet.

Register

Neutral in artistic and philosophical contexts; clinical in psychological contexts where idealization is identified as a defence mechanism (often paired with devaluation). Everyday use is neutral to slightly cautionary — to say someone is idealizing a person or period implies they should see it more realistically.