1590s, "to admire excessively," from idol + -ize. Literal sense "worship as an idol" is from 1660s. Related: Idolized; idolizing.
Many teenagers idolized the Beatles
idol
idolater
idolatrous
idolatry
idolization
idolize
Idumaean
idyll
idyllic
-ie
-ier
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