Idealised

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Described or depicted as flawless or more excellent than in actuality
2. Presented in an elevated or improved form than what actually exists
3. Shown in a way that emphasizes perfection or superior qualities beyond real life

Etymology: "Idealised" is the British spelling of "idealized," and it is the past tense and past participle of "idealise," a verb meaning to picture something as more perfect than it really is. The verb grows from "ideal," which came into English from Late Latin "idealis," meaning existing as an idea, itself built from Latin "idea," the image or form of a thing. For centuries "ideal" was mostly a philosophical word about mental forms, and the sense of perfection came later. The verb "idealise" carries that shift forward. Its base in "ideal" gives it the idea of a mental picture, and the suffix "-ise" turns the noun into an action: to make something conform to an ideal. The past form "idealised" is therefore what you call a thing once someone has already smoothed its flaws in the mind's eye. A modern example from journalism shows how the word still works: a 2017 Guardian article describes how neoreactionary writers portray authoritarian city states as "idealised medieval kingdoms," imagining a past or future more orderly than any real one.

Synonyms: idealized, perfected, romanticized

Antonyms: realistic, pragmatic, imperfect