1. to treat an abstract concept as if it were a concrete thing or substance
Usage: philosophical; formal

Examples

• The philosopher argued that we shouldn’t hypostatize concepts like justice or beauty.
• Critics claim the theory hypostatizes what should remain abstract principles.
• When we hypostatize emotions, we risk treating them as fixed entities rather than processes.
• The ancient Greeks often hypostatized virtues, creating gods to represent them.
• Modern psychology warns against hypostatizing the mind as a separate substance.
• The debate centers on whether the author hypostatizes language itself.