mythologize

verb

my·​thol·​o·​gize mi-ˈthä-lə-ˌjīz 

mythologized; mythologizing

transitive verb

1

obsolete : to explain the mythological significance of

2

: to build a myth around : mythicize

intransitive verb

1

: to relate, classify, and explain myths

2

: to create or perpetuate myths

mythologizer noun

Examples of mythologize in a Sentence

a politician who has been mythologized by his supporters

Recent Examples on the Web

In the recent Saturday Night movie, which mythologizes the series’ turbulent birth, Gabrielle LaBelle (playing a young Michaels) gives a speech about how SNL should feel like a wild night out in the city, all jazz and revelry. —Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 11 Nov. 2024

All sports like to mythologize themselves, but baseball—this young country’s oldest game—might have one of the most powerful and pernicious mythmaking apparatuses of all. —Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2024

Stagecraft and the power of political photographs With the invention of photography came a new way to view, mythologize and remember the nation's presidents. —David Morgan, CBS News, 1 Nov. 2024

King, widely mythologized today, was viewed unfavorably by more than two-thirds of Americans in 1966. —Samantha Eyler, Foreign Affairs, 31 Jan. 2017

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French mythologiser, from mythologie mythology + -iser -ize

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1