reify

IPA/ˈreɪ.ɪ.faɪ/
IPA/ˈriː.ə.faɪ/

reify — verb

  • reifypresent simple I / you / we / they
  • reifies3rd person singular
  • reifying-ing form
  • reifiedpast simple

1. to take an abstract idea, feeling, or concept and talk about it as if it were a

1.動詞及物C1
釋義

to take an abstract idea, feeling, or concept and talk about it as if it were a physical object or a real thing that you can see and touch

例句

The professor warned the class not to reify abstract ideas like 'justice' as physical objects.

reify + abstract concept as if it were a physical object

Mei argued that the survey reified customer satisfaction as a single score.

同義詞
  • objectify

    stronger and often more negative, especially when applied to people — 'objectify' reduces a person to their physical body, while 'reify' applies to any abstract concept

  • concretize

    neutral and rarer — simply means 'make concrete' without the implication of error

反義詞
  • abstract

    to think of or present something apart from its concrete instances

文法句型

reify + abstract noun phrase

be reified as + noun phrase

用法筆記

Common in academic writing, especially philosophy, sociology, and critical theory. The word often carries an implied criticism of the thinking it describes — the speaker suggests that treating the abstract thing as a concrete object is a mistake or oversimplification.

常見錯誤

❌The artist reified the beauty of the sunset in her painting.
✅Some economic models reify 'growth' by treating it as the only measure of success.
💡reify is about mistaking an abstract concept for a physical thing, not about creating artistic representations of something already concrete.