realize
Formsrealizes, realizing, realized
UK spellingrealise
- 1To understand or become aware of a fact or situation, often one that has been true for a while.
She suddenly realized her mistake during the meeting.
I didn't realize the door had been open all night.
UsageOften followed by that, what or how: realize what happened.
Similarunderstand, recognize, grasp, appreciate, notice
- 2To make something you planned or hoped for really happen.
Like turning a rough sketch into a finished building.
Years of saving finally helped them realize their dream of owning a home.
The architect realized her vision in steel and glass.
UsageOften used with dream, plan or potential: realize your dream.
Note
- 3To get money or profit by selling something or from a deal.
Like selling your old bike and getting cash for it.
They realized a large profit when they sold the warehouse.
Investors hope to realize gains on every trade.
UsageUsed with money words: realize a profit, realize a gain.
Similarmake, earn, net, gain, clear
Note
Less common meanings
- 4To turn property or investments into cash, usually by selling them.
Like changing game tokens back into real money.
The family had to realize some of its land to pay off its debts.
You can realize your shares whenever the market is strong.
UsageUsed with what you sell: realize your assets, realize shares.
Note
- 5Of property or an investment: to be sold for, or bring in, a certain amount of money.
Like a lemonade stand bringing in twenty dollars a day.
The old painting realized half a million dollars at auction.
The old farmhouse should realize about $300,000 at auction.
UsageThe thing sold comes first: the house realized $300,000.
- 6To make something seem real, especially by showing or describing it clearly in art, film or writing.
Like a painter making a scene look so real you feel you are there.
The film realizes the ancient city with stunning detail.
A good storyteller can realize a whole world for the audience.
Note
- 7To feel or picture something so strongly that it seems real.
That any civilized human being in this nineteenth century should not be aware that the earth travelled round the sun appeared to be to me such an extraordinary fact that I could hardly realize it.
1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”UsageOften used with could not or could hardly.
Similarpicture, imagine, envision, visualize
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- 8To really live through or feel something for yourself.
Note
- 9To turn a sound that exists only in theory into a real sound that people actually say.
- 10To finish a piece of music that the composer left incomplete or only partly written down.
- 11To rewrite a piece written for one player so a whole orchestra can play it.
- 12To write out or play an accompaniment using a bass line with numbers showing the required chords.
- 13To get a real example of something out of a general mathematical idea or structure.
Practice
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Origin
From the adjective 'real' plus '-ize', maybe copied from French 'réaliser'. 'Real' goes back to Latin 'reālis' meaning 'actual, real', from 'rēs' meaning 'thing'.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- 'Realize' is formed from the adjective 'real' plus '-ize'. en.wiktionary.org
- 'Realize' was possibly modelled on French 'réaliser'. en.wiktionary.org
- 'Real' ultimately derives from Latin 'reālis', meaning 'actual, real'. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin 'reālis' derives from 'rēs', meaning 'thing'. en.wiktionary.org