romanticize

verb

ro·​man·​ti·​cize rō-ˈman-tə-ˌsīz 

rə-

romanticized; romanticizing

transitive verb

: to make romantic : treat as idealized or heroic

romanticize the past

intransitive verb

1

: to hold romantic ideas

2

: to present details, incidents, or people in a romantic way

The book romanticized military life.

romanticization

rō-ˌman-tə-sə-ˈzā-shən 

rə-

noun

Synonyms of romanticize

• idealize
• glamorize

Examples of romanticize in a Sentence

He has romanticized notions of army life.

a romanticized view of politics

We were romanticizing about the past.

Recent Examples on the Web

The fact that such men are in short supply, and that this romanticized myth didn’t even remotely compare with the lives such men actually lived, is of little concern to today’s masculinists. — Michael Kimmel, Time, 15 Aug. 2026

YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts Gen Z has romanticized the technology of the ’90s—or the era’s lack of it. — Jinae West, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026

Today’s Leo solar eclipse asks you to quit romanticizing self-sacrifice. — Usa Today, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026

Neil remembers everything, and doesn’t repress it so much as romanticize it, chasing older men who might replicate that feeling. — Joshua Encinias, IndieWire, 10 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for romanticize

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

Kids Definition

romanticize

verb

ro·​man·​ti·​cize rō-ˈmant-ə-ˌsīz 

romanticized; romanticizing

1

: to make romantic : show in a romantic way

2

: to have romantic ideas

romanticization

-ˌmant-ə-sə-ˈzā-shən 

noun