Synonyms

materialize

American

[muh-teer-ee-uh-lahyz] / məˈtɪər i əˌlaɪz /

especially British, materialise

verb (used without object)

to come into perceptible existence; appear; become actual or real; be realized or carried out.

Our plans never materialized.

Synonyms:

issue, rise, show, emerge
to assume material or bodily form; become corporeal.

The ghost materialized before Hamlet.

verb (used with object)

to give material form to; realize.

This year, she materialized her long-held ambition to go to law school.
to invest with material attributes.

The writer materializes the more abstract ideas with metaphors, making the concepts easier to grasp.
to make physically perceptible; cause (a spirit or the like) to appear in bodily form.
to render materialistic.

materialize British

/ məˈtɪərɪəˌlaɪz /

verb

(intr) to become fact; actually happen

our hopes never materialized
to invest or become invested with a physical shape or form
to cause (a spirit, as of a dead person) to appear in material form or (of a spirit) to appear in such form
(intr) to take shape; become tangible

after hours of discussion, the project finally began to materialize
physics to form (material particles) from energy, as in pair production

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of materialize

First recorded in 1700–10; material + -ize

Explanation

When you materialize, you show up suddenly after being missing, unborn, or unseen. Think of Harry Potter removing his invisibility cloak. He materializes. Living things aren't the only things that materialize. Car keys and reading glasses materialize when you've been searching for them for a while and then they are suddenly there on the table. If you're lucky an unexpected business deal will materialize. Like material, the word is related to the Latin word meaning "matter." Matter, is, of course, all the stuff of this earth, anything and everything that takes form. So to materialize is to take form.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Everybody knew the significance of the Strait of Hormuz before this, but nobody really realized it could materialize to that strong of a chokehold.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

He continues to lobby congressional officials and their D.C. staff members, but his broader aims have yet to materialize.

From Slate • May 28, 2026

However, the oil market still suggests traders are hopeful —or even confident—that a peace agreement may yet materialize.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

Ramps and chutes clatter to the ground, and six- and eight-horse hitches materialize from nowhere, spread out on the dirt.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023