idolizei‧dol‧ize (also idolise British English) /ˈaɪdəl-aɪz/ verb [transitive] 
Verb Table Examples
They had one child, a girl whom they idolized.► see thesaurus at admire
Verb TableVERB TABLE
idolize
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | idolize |
| he, she, it | idolizes | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | idolized |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have idolized |
| he, she, it | has idolized | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had idolized |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will idolize |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have idolized |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am idolizing |
| he, she, it | is idolizing | |
| you, we, they | are idolizing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was idolizing |
| you, we, they | were idolizing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been idolizing |
| he, she, it | has been idolizing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been idolizing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be idolizing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been idolizing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- As a child, Ted idolized his father.
- Monroe was idolized by movie fans all over the world.
- Susan idolizes her mother.
- And he helped her by showing that she had married a man of her own color who was idolized by all.
- But no, he idolized the girl from the start.
- Denied parents for so much of the year, Angel had idolized Pedro.
- He is both idolized and despised within the Union movement.
- In the late seventies, when Ian was starting out as a pro, he idolized Watson.
- It was a pleasure to flog her, to defend her, to scrutinize, criticize and idolize her.
THESAURUS► admire
to admire and love someone so much that you think they are perfect: to like someone because they have achieved something special, or they have skills or qualities that you would like to have: · I admire your courage.· She admired him for the way he dealt with the situation.
► respect to have a good opinion of someone, even if you do not agree with them, for example because they have achieved a lot or have high standards: · She is respected by all her colleagues at the university.· She’s an actor who is not prepared to compromise, and her audience loves and respects her for that.
► revere formal to greatly admire someone because of their achievements and personal qualities, especially someone famous: · Mandela is revered as one of the great leaders of our time.
► look up to somebody to admire someone who is older or who has more experience than you: · All the young comedians look up to him.
► think highly of somebody to think that someone is good at what they do: · His teachers seem to think very highly of him.
► idolize to admire someone so much that you think they are perfect – used especially about famous people or people in your family: · He idolized his brother.· Jane grew up idolizing Princess Diana.
► hero-worship to admire someone a lot and want to be like them – often used when this seems unreasonable or extreme: · She hero-worshipped John to such an extent that she was blind to his faults.
Longman Language Activatorto admire someone very much► idolize also idolise British to admire someone very much, especially a famous person, so that you think everything about them is perfect: · Monroe was idolized by movie fans all over the world.· As a child, Ted idolized his father.
► revere formal to respect someone greatly for their achievements or personal qualities, especially someone in public life: revere by: · Collins was revered by his fellow countrymen.revere somebody as something: · Ondaatje is revered as one of Canada's best writers.
► worship to admire and love someone so much that you cannot see any faults in them: · She absolutely worships Elvis Presley.worship the ground somebody walks on (=to admire absolutely everything about a person): · Garvey worshipped the ground his wife walked on.
► put somebody on a pedestal to admire someone so much that you treat them or talk about them as though they are perfect -- used especially when you think someone is wrong to do this: · You shouldn't put him on a pedestal. He doesn't deserve it.· I used to put Sarah on a pedestal. Now I don't even like to be in the same room with her.
► hero-worship to greatly admire someone and want to be like them: · His fans hero-worshipped him.· The brother Ian had once hero-worshipped was now an unemployed drug addict.
They had one child, a girl whom they idolized.► see thesaurus at admire