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

Larson mythologized the mid-1990s incarnation of the neighborhood with Rent, the world-conquering rock musical that changed the sound of contemporary musical theater and captured the lives of a clique of artists just as gentrification was moving that world out of lower Manhattan forever. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2025

In Uberto Pasolini’s The Return, Fiennes plays Odysseus, the ancient Greek king of Ithaca, whose long journey home from the Trojan War was mythologized in Homer’s The Odyssey. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024

In a series of self-portraits, for instance, Weegee humorously mythologizes his persona as a hardboiled man of action, always in pursuit of the next attention-grabbing scoop. —Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2025

He’s been mythologized almost to the point of dehumanization. —Lori A Bashian Fox News, Fox News, 17 Feb. 2025

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

Rhymes for mythologize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• commercialize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize