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

Trump used these podcast appearances to both humanize and mythologize himself. —Brian Barrett, WIRED, 6 Nov. 2024

This series has not set out to mythologize Indigenous communities with bespoke, unapproachable, or mystic traditional practices and solutions — but instead underscores humility as a throughline. —Paige Vega, Vox, 17 Sep. 2024

They were made by each other by reverently mythologizing their history while also irreverently demolishing it to make way for whatever was new and next, like a postwar building that’s periodically renovated to keep up with trends. —David Lachapelle, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2024

By the time the work finally reached readers, the writer was a countercultural icon, and his past had been mythologized enough to give the story context. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Nov. 2024

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