rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryRoot: -ation
English

-ation

an action, process, or result

Forms

  • -ation

Origin

Borrowed through French from Latin -atio, the form of an action ending used with many -are verbs.

Note

English speakers later attached this ending to bases that were not themselves Latin verbs.

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noun

idealization

eye-dee-uh-luh-ZAY-shun/aɪˌdiːələˈzeɪʃn/

The act of imagining something as perfect or better than it really is.

Through idealization, the person imagines the shabby cottage as a flawless mansion.

A person imagines a shabby small cottage as a flawless grand home in a thought bubble, actual flaws visible.
Etymology
idealEnglishperfect
+izEnglishmake, become, or treat in a particular way
+ationEnglishan action, process, or result

Idealize was probably formed from ideal and a suffix meaning 'make,' giving 'make or consider ideal.' Idealization names that mental act: imagining something with a perfection it does not actually possess.

In context

Prof. Sam Vaknin60:29
what is idealization is when you take the positive traits in yourself things you would like to see in other people and then you attribute it to other attribute them to other people
Narcissist is Your Dark Side: You Envy Him, Want to Be Like Him

More examples

  • His idealization of childhood leaves out the lonely years.
  • The movie offers an idealization of family life.
  • These idealizations of marriage create unrealistic expectations.

Forms

idealization · idealizations

idealize verb — To imagine something as better than reality.

Similar words

romanticization
Emphasizes imagined charm or excitement rather than perfection generally.
glorification
Emphasizes excessive praise or admiration rather than imagined perfection.