as in to idealize
to represent or think of as better than reality would warrant
he romanticized what life in a small town would be like, only to be later disappointed when reality intruded
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Recent Examples of romanticize
The new book suggests that human beings have always been declinist, underselling the riches of the present and romanticizing what earlier generations merely made do with.
—
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Tribeny Rai never intended to romanticize her homeland.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Sep. 2025
According to the filing, the system provided noose-tying instructions, romanticized suicide, and discouraged seeking help.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
According to the lawsuit, the chatbot provided detailed instructions, romanticized suicide methods, and discouraged the teen from seeking help from his family while OpenAI's system tracked 377 messages flagged for self-harm content without intervening.
—ArsTechnica, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for romanticize
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Tribeny Rai never intended to romanticize her homeland.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Sep. 2025
According to the filing, the system provided noose-tying instructions, romanticized suicide, and discouraged seeking help.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
According to the lawsuit, the chatbot provided detailed instructions, romanticized suicide methods, and discouraged the teen from seeking help from his family while OpenAI's system tracked 377 messages flagged for self-harm content without intervening.
—ArsTechnica, 16 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for romanticize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for romanticize
Verb
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There’s no wishful thinking that our society will stop idealizing appearance, but framing and intrinsic motivation matter.—
Alexa Mikhail,
Flow Space,
8 Oct. 2025
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There’s a fine line between being crystal clear and idealizing a situation.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Safdie makes no effort to glamorize the Kerr’s work, or to insist that there is actually an elegance to what MMA fighters do.—
Richard Lawson,
Rolling Stone,
1 Oct. 2025
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Addressing Consumer Pain Points The startup world glamorizes disruption and wild ideas for the sake of massive capital gains opportunities.—
Brandon Aversano,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Romanticize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/romanticize. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
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