1. to treat an abstract concept as if it were a concrete, material thing
Usage: formal; philosophy; sociology

Examples

• The philosopher warned against reifying complex social relationships into simple economic models.
• Critics argue that the theory reifies gender roles by treating them as natural rather than constructed.
• The artist’s sculpture reifies the abstract concept of freedom through concrete imagery.
• Sociologists caution against reifying culture as a fixed entity rather than a dynamic process.
• The company’s mission statement tends to reify teamwork as a measurable commodity.
• Students often reify mathematical concepts, forgetting they are human constructions.