materialize
gb/mətˈɪɹiəlˌaɪz/ us/mətˈɪɹiəlˌaɪz/
B2
English
Senses
0 senses
Verb
B2
event
1
happen or become real
To happen in real life (especially after you expected it).
Usage pattern:
[plan/idea/opportunity/benefit] materializes
Common mistake:
Don’t confuse materialize with realize (= understand) or with make (a plan) happen; materialize is usually intransitive (the plan materializes).
Synonyms
happen (More general and less formal.)
|
come about (Often used for events developing over time.)
Antonyms
fizzle out (Stops developing and never happens.)
Collocations
plans materialize
|hopes materialize
|fears materialize
|the deal materialized
|the opportunity materialized
|benefits materialize
|results materialize
|nothing materialized
|never materialized
|failed to materialize
Themes
daily_life
|business
Examples
- After months of переговорs, the deal finally materialized.
- We were promised a promotion, but it never materialized.
- If the funding materializes, the project can start this summer.
Learner examples
- The job offer didn’t materialize.
- Our plans materialized in the end.
Verb
B2
event
2
appear suddenly and unexpectedly
To appear suddenly, as if from nowhere.
Usage pattern:
[someone/something] materializes (in/at [place])
Common mistake:
Materialize is stronger than appear; it often suggests surprise or no clear explanation for the arrival.
Synonyms
appear (Neutral; less dramatic.)
|
turn up (More informal; emphasizes arriving.)
Antonyms
disappear (Goes out of sight or stops being present.)
Collocations
materialize out of nowhere
|materialize at the door
|materialize in the room
|materialize beside me
|materialize in front of us
|materialize on the platform
|materialize behind someone
|suddenly materialized
Themes
daily_life
Examples
- A waiter materialized the moment we looked up from the menu.
- She materialized at my desk just as I was about to leave.
- New problems kept materializing every week.
Learner examples
- He materialized at the door.
- My keys materialized in my bag.
Verb
literary
C1
process
3
take visible or physical form
To become a real, visible thing (often in stories).
Usage pattern:
[spirit/object] materializes (into/as [form])
Common mistake:
In this sense, materialize often implies something unreal or invisible becoming physical; it’s not the usual meaning for everyday plans.
Synonyms
manifest (Often suggests a hidden thing becoming apparent or visible.)
|
take shape (Emphasizes forming gradually.)
Antonyms
dematerialize (Stops being physical or visible.)
Collocations
materialize into a figure
|materialize as a person
|materialize in a flash
|materialize from mist
|begin to materialize
|fully materialize
Themes
arts
|fiction
Examples
- A ghostly face materialized in the mirror.
- The spaceship materialized above the city in a burst of light.
- The fog began to materialize into a human shape.
Learner examples
- A figure materialized in the dark.
- The ghost materialized suddenly.
Verb
technical
C1
process
4
compute and store a query result
In databases, to save the results of a query so they can be used faster later.
Usage pattern:
materialize [data/result/view]
Common mistake:
This technical sense is different from the everyday sense “happen/appear.”
Synonyms
persist (Emphasizes saving data to storage.)
|
cache (Emphasizes storing for faster access, often temporarily.)
Antonyms
virtualize (Keeps something as a logical/virtual representation rather than a stored copy.)
Collocations
materialize a view
|materialize the results
|materialize a query
|materialize intermediate results
|materialize a dataset
|materialize a table
|materialize output
Themes
computing
|data
Examples
- The optimizer chose to materialize the subquery to speed up the join.
- We materialize daily aggregates into a separate table.
- In this system, views are computed on the fly unless you materialize them.
Grammar
Dictionary form
materialize
IPA
GB/mətˈɪɹiəlˌaɪz/
US/mətˈɪɹiəlˌaɪz/
Syllables & stress
ma - ter - i - al - ize (5 syllables)
Stress on 2nd syllable (ter)
Word forms
Verb
- Base: materialize
- 3rd Person Singular: materializes
- Present Participle: materializing
- Past: materialized
Word family
Forms
materializes
verb
materializing
verb
materialized
verb
Core family
materialization
noun C1
material
noun A2
Related words
materially
adverb
Negative and opposite forms
immaterial
adjective C1
Advanced or less common
Expressions
fail to materialize
1/fˈeɪl tə mətˈɪɹiəlˌaɪz/
fixed phrase
not happen as expected
To not happen, even though people expected it.
Examples
- The expected savings failed to materialize.
- Their meeting was postponed when enough support failed to materialize.
- Despite the hype, the new jobs failed to materialize.
materialize before your eyes
1/mətˈɪɹiəlˌaɪz bɪfˈɔɹ jˈʊɹ ˈaɪz/
fixed phrase
appear suddenly in front of you
To appear suddenly right in front of you.
Examples
- A huge rainbow seemed to materialize before our eyes.
- The outline of the island materialized before our eyes as the fog lifted.
- With one click, the map materialized before our eyes on the screen.
materialize out of thin air
1/mətˈɪɹiəlˌaɪz ˈaʊt əv θˈɪn ˈɛɹ/
fixed phrase
informal
appear as if by magic
To appear suddenly from nowhere.
Examples
- Extra chairs don’t just materialize out of thin air.
- He materialized out of thin air right when we started talking about him.
- A solution won’t materialize out of thin air—you have to work for it.