noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The act or process of idealizing. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   a portrayal of something as ideal wordnet
3. 3
   The representation of natural objects, scenes, etc., in such a way as to show their most important characteristics; the study of the ideal. countable, uncountable
4. 4
   something that exists only as an idea wordnet
5. 5
   (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that splits something you are ambivalent about into two representations — one good and one bad wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

airinessappearanceautismautistic thinkingdelusivenessdematerialization

Etymology

From idealize + -ation.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.