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Glite Dictionary
mythologization

mythologization

9.8
To make a story, person, or event seem like a legend
  • noun
  • /mɪˌθɑlədʒɪˈzeɪʃən/
  • Formal
translation icon : mitologización
  • His mythologization of the band made them seem larger than life, influencing fans' perceptions dramatically.

Examples

  • The film's mythologization of the hero transformed him from a simple soldier into a legendary figure.

  • This self-mythologization is, perhaps, both a symptom and a cause of the problem.

    Academic text (1995)

  • It appears likely that the nature of this workload contributed to the mythologization of the work of farm women.

    Blog text (18)

  • This mythologization of politics in terms of Earth Mother or Sky Father also reflects the infantilization of the nominal citizen.

    Blog text (12)

  • But those already described are the most striking and do have an obverse side in the mythologization by a few CARL experts of their opponents: those literary critics who attack or ignore CARL.

    Academic text (1995)

  • In grappling with the spectacularizing photographic history of Bushman(ia), Weinberg's documentary project is an important attempt to present an alternative to the popular mythologizations of Bushman-ness.

    Academic text (1999)

  • The mythologization of historical events often leads to a distorted understanding of the past.

Synonyms

glorification
vsmythologization
3 6.8

Making something seem better than it really is

often goes further by framing subjects as mythical and larger than life
idealization
vsmythologization
2 7.0

Showing something as perfect or much better than it is

adds a mythic layer beyond mere perfection by stressing legendary status
mythmaking
vsmythologization
1 7.0

Creating and sharing stories people accept as true to shape what they think

focuses more on making events feel mythical through exaggeration or idealization
mythification
vsmythologization
9.1

To make a person or place seem like a legend

also transforms stories or events into myths by exaggerating or idealizing them
mythopoiesis
vsmythologization
  • Literature
9.9

Making new myths for books or films

is less literary and also includes exaggerating real events into myths

How Mythical

deification
2 9.5
mythologization
  • Formal
9.8
idealization
2 7.0
romanticization
  • US
1 8.1
retelling
13 3.0

Surface Forms

mythologization singular
mythologizations plural

Morphology

mythologization = mythologize (semi-transparent) = myth + ology + ize + ation

The noun is formed regularly from the verb 'mythologize' with the suffix '-ation'.

Etymology

Mythologization comes from myth meaning 'story' and the parts -ize 'to make' and -ation 'a process', so it literally means the process of making something into a myth. So, mythologization is when people turn a person, event, or idea into a larger-than-life story, often making it seem bigger and more symbolic than the real facts.