idealize

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: i=de=al=ize

CIDE DICTIONARY

idealize, v. t. 

•  To make ideal; to consider as ideal; to give an ideal form or value to; to attribute ideal characteristics and excellences to; as, to idealize real life.  [1913 Webster]
•  To treat in an ideal manner. See Idealization, 2.  [1913 Webster]
•  to form ideals.  [WordNet 1.5]

idealize, v. i. [Cf. F. idéaliser.].

 To form ideals.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

idealize, v.tr. (also -ise)
1 regard or represent (a thing or person) in ideal form or character.
2 exalt in thought to ideal perfection or excellence.

Derivative

idealization n. idealizer n.

THESAURUS

idealize

apotheosize, deify, dematerialize, disembody, disincarnate, elevate, ennoble, etherealize, exaggerate, exalt, glorify, immaterialize, overappraise, overassess, overcalculate, overcount, overesteem, overestimate, overmeasure, overprize, overrate, overreact to, overreckon, overstate, overvalue, quixotize, rhapsodize, romance, romanticize, spiritize, spiritualize, unsubstantialize, utopianize, worship

ROGET THESAURUS

idealize

Imagination

VB imagine, fancy, conceive, idealize, realize, dream, dream of, dream up, give to airy nothing a local habitation and a name, create, originate, devise, invent, coin, fabricate, improvise, strike out something new, set one's wits to work, strain one's invention, crack one's invention, rack one's brains, ransack one's brains, cudgel one's brains, excogitate, brainstorm, give play, give the reins, give a loose to the imagination, give fancy, indulge in reverie, visualize, envision, conjure up a vision, fancy oneself, represent oneself, picture, picture-oneself, figure to oneself, vorstellen, float in the mind, suggest itself.