How do you use the word "realize" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "realize" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "realize": Sarah was discerning enough to realize that her friends were trying to prank her. Life begins when we realize who we really are.

Realize Meaning

/ˈɹɪə.laɪz/

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo become aware of, understand, or appreciate (a fact or situation, especially something which has been true for some time).

verbTo sense (something) strongly or vividly as if real.

Sentence Examples

Sarah was discerning enough to realize that her friends were trying to prank her.

Life begins when we realize who we really are.

It took him some time to realize the importance of the situation.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

see understand realise

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

Only after reading the letter did she ____ how much her friend had suffered.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

She began to ____ that the opportunity she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Word Origin & History

PIE word *reh₁ís Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *(H)reh₁ís Proto-Italic *reis Latin rēs Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Late Latin -ālis Late Latin reālisder. Old French reelbor. Middle English real English real Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English realize From real (adjective) + -ize (suffix denoting the making of what is indicated by the word it is attached to), possibly modelled after French réaliser, Middle French réaliser (“to make real; to convert (something) into assets or cash”), from real (“actual, real”) + -iser (suffix denoting the making of what is indicated by the word it is attached to). Real is derived from Old French reel, from Latin reālis (“actual, real”), from rēs (“deed; event; matter; thing”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁ís (“goods; wealth”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"[S]he cannot realize the change we must undergo. She has no idea of poverty but in the abstract: she has only read of it in poetry, where it is allied to love." — 1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Wife”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 49:

"But Scott, unaccountable as it seems, evidently failed to realize how far superior is Clara Mowbray [in Saint Ronan's Well] to all his other heroines of the same rank or class." — 1825–1832, Algernon Charles Swinburne, “The Journal of Sir Walter Scott”, in Studies in Prose and Poetry, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 17:

"Have faith in God! He shall dispose thy lot, / Nor weep for woe thou realisest not: / They shall precede thee to the better land, / And meet and greet thee on its joyful strand." — [1849], “‘Woman, Why Weepest Thou?’”, in Memorials of Bertie’s Brother and Infant Sister. […], London: Ward and Co., […], →OCLC, page 79:

"For so bight and placid was the farewell voyage of the little spirit [of a child], […] that it was impossible to realize that it was death that was approaching." — 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Death”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume II, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC, page 109:

"Utterly helpleſs, thou wert ſinking for ever, and realiſedſt not the fearfulneſs of thy poſition, for thus wert thou born and nurtured." — 1865, [Henry] Suso, “Light after Darkness”, in [anonymous], transl., Spiritual Voices from the Middle Ages. […], London: Joseph Masters, […], →OCLC, part V (Of the State of Grace), paragraph 97, pages 75–76:

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