MEANING
To treat an abstract idea, relation, or process as though it were a definite concrete entity.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- reify a concept
- reify a distinction
On the page
The narrator reified guilt as a presence at the table.
Her argument reified a distinction that the evidence kept blurring.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- reify
- Past tense
- reified
- Past participle
- reified
- Present participle
- reifying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- reify
- Present continuous
- am/is/are reifying
- Present perfect
- have/has reified
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been reifying
- Past
- reified
- Past continuous
- was/were reifying
- Past perfect
- had reified
- Past perfect continuous
- had been reifying
- Future
- will reify
- Future continuous
- will be reifying
- Future perfect
- will have reified
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been reifying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: reify; reifies; reified; reified; reifying Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: reifies.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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