concretize
/'kɔn'kri:taiz/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb (transitive):
- To make something concrete, specific, or real: To take an abstract idea, concept, or plan and give it a definite, tangible, or practical form.
- To represent something in a concrete form: To express or illustrate an abstract notion through specific examples, details, or physical manifestations.
Verb (intransitive):
- To become concrete or specific: For an abstract idea or feeling to take on a definite, clear, or tangible form in one's mind or in reality.
Usage
- As a transitive verb, "concretize" is followed by a direct object (the thing being made concrete).
- As an intransitive verb, it describes a process that happens to the subject itself.
- It is often used in academic, professional, or philosophical contexts to describe the process of moving from the abstract to the specific.
Examples
- Transitive use:
- The architect's sketches helped to concretize the client's vague vision for the new building.
- The new policy concretizes the company's commitment to sustainability by setting measurable goals.
- Intransitive use:
- Her anxiety about the future began to concretize into a specific plan of action.
- As we discussed the project, the abstract concept slowly concretized in our minds.
Advanced Usage
- "To concretize an abstraction": A common collocation in academic writing, meaning to give a tangible form to an abstract principle.
- The artist's sculpture serves to concretize the abstraction of human sorrow.
- Used in psychology and cognitive science to describe how thoughts or fears become specific.
- In therapy, patients are encouraged to concretize their worries by writing them down.
Variants and Related Words
- Concrete (adj): Existing in a material or physical form; real, solid, not abstract.
- They needed concrete evidence, not just theories.
- Concretization (n): The process or result of making something concrete.
- The concretization of her ideas into a business model took several months.
- Reify (v): A more formal synonym, often used in philosophy and social theory, meaning to make an abstract idea seem concrete or real.
Synonyms
- Embody: To give a tangible or visible form to an idea or quality.
- Materialize: To become actual fact; to appear in physical form.
- Substantiate: To provide evidence to support or prove the truth of something, making it more concrete.
- Instantiate: (Formal, especially in philosophy/computing) To represent as or by an instance.
Antonyms
- Abstract (v): To consider something theoretically or separately from concrete reality.
- Generalize: To make a broad statement or form a general principle.
- Vaguen: To make less definite or clear (less common; "make vague" is more typical).
Verb
- become specific
- the idea concretized in her mind
- make something concrete