mythologize

verb

my·​thol·​o·​gize mi-ˈthä-lə-ˌjīz 

mythologized; mythologizing

transitive verb

1

obsolete : to explain the mythological significance of

2

: to build a myth around : mythicize

intransitive verb

1

: to relate, classify, and explain myths

2

: to create or perpetuate myths

mythologizer noun

Examples of mythologize in a Sentence

a politician who has been mythologized by his supporters

Recent Examples on the Web

All of it was painfully misguided, as though the host nation were actively trying to self-mythologize instead of just hosting. — Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 20 July 2026

In their American Psychologist paper, Newark and his co-author suggested two alternative ways to make meaning without mythologizing oneself. — Emma Gometz, Scientific American, 20 July 2026

Walt Whitman sang the country an idea of itself, and Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson mythologized the transcendent individual. — Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026

Then, after World War II, Route 66 came to mythologize the postwar boom. — Daniel Milowski, The Conversation, 29 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French mythologiser, from mythologie mythology + -iser -ize

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for mythologize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• commercialize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize