idolize
idolize Lexical Profile
idolize Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To admire, revere, or love someone or something intensely and often uncritically.
"Many young basketball players idolize professional athletes and spend hours practicing their signature moves."
To worship or venerate a physical object or image as a religious idol or god.
"Ancient texts describe how certain sects would idolize carved stone figures during seasonal harvest rituals."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'idolize' (to admire or worship someone intensely) with the near-homophone 'idealize' (to regard or represent something as perfect or better than it is in reality).
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the late 16th century from the noun 'idol' (tracing back via Old French and Latin to Ancient Greek 'eidolon', meaning 'image' or 'phantom') combined with the verbal suffix '-ize'.