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to actualize

to actualize

1 7.5
Show feelings and scenes as real in art or writing
  • verb
  • /ˈæk.tʃu.ə.laɪz/
  • US
translation icon : representar
  • The painting seems to actualize a wordless, fraught, psychological encounter, which is no less powerful for being difficult to describe.

Examples

  • The documentary aims to actualize the experiences of refugees through firsthand accounts.

  • The possibilities of new life, imaginatively narrated by Jesus' parables, become actualized only when they are incarnated by Jesus' life.

    Academic text (2006)
  • "I think Jane Eyre is a great example of a female character who is feminine and thoroughly self-actualized.

    Blog text (9)
  • We should no longer view GLB youth as damaged or vulnerable, but as self-actualized individuals with the ability to forge their own destinies.

    Academic text (2008)
  • At Miami-Dade, general education, for both academic and occupational degrees, is designed to enable students to integrate knowledge, develop a commitment to lifetime learning, become self-actualizing, find value in their lives, and increase their breadth and depth of ideas.

    Academic text (1991)
  • His speech was designed to actualize the challenges faced by the local community.

  • The artist sought to actualize the beauty of nature in her landscape paintings.

Synonyms

to capture
vsto actualize
255 3.4

To show an idea, feeling, or quality clearly

makes that representation appear realistic and true to life
to portray
vsto actualize
182 3.9

To describe a person or thing in words

leans more toward creating a realistic, true to life impression
to depict
vsto actualize
176 3.5

To show something in a picture or in words

focuses on making the scene feel realistic rather than just describing it
to embody
vsto actualize
104 5.1

Show an idea, quality or feeling in a clear visible way

aims to make that visible form specifically realistic and lifelike
to model
vsto actualize
102 4.1

To make a small copy of something to show or study it

emphasizes representing it as realistically true to life rather than abstract
to simulate
vsto actualize
22 5.5

Copy someone's voice or actions to seem like them

stresses actual realism and faithful truth rather than temporary imitation
to reify
vsto actualize
  • Formal
3 9.9

To think of an idea as a real thing

instead focuses on producing a realistic, true to life version rather than just treating it as real

Antonyms

97 4.6

To change facts so they become false or misleading

Give a false story about someone or something to trick people

to falsify
  • Formal
44 7.3

To make documents or facts not true to deceive people

How Realistic

to actualize
  • US
1 7.5
to render
52 6.3
to depict
176 3.5
to describe
1.0
to stylize
8 6.4

Surface Forms

actualize infinitive
actualized past
actualized past participle
actualizing present participle
actualizes third person singular

Morphology

actualize = actual (transparent) = actual + ize

The sense 'represent or describe in a realistic way' is a semantic extension of 'make real' but the formation from 'actual' + '-ize' is regular and inferable.

Etymology

Actualize comes from act ('to do') and the word actual ('real'), with the ending -ize meaning 'to make'. So to actualize an idea or image is to show it or describe it in a way that makes it feel real.