How to Use realize in a Sentence

realize

verb
  • They did not realize the risk that was involved.
  • You just have to realize that you can't always get what you want.
  • He finally realized the scope of the problem.
  • She realizes how much things have changed.
  • She slowly realized what he was trying to say.
  • Do you realize how difficult that stunt is?
  • He realized a lifelong dream by winning an Olympic medal.
  • He finally realized his ambition to start his own business.
  • That dream is about to be realized.
    — Mike Householder, Fortune, 17 May 2026
  • Just be present, do your best and realize that's great.
    — Tracy Nolan, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
  • At what point did each of you realize that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts?
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 May 2022
  • All of my concerns and fears were realized by one phone call.
    — Mike Levine, ABC News, 14 June 2023
  • Trump must realize that white males do not have all the answers.
    — Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 27 June 2026
  • Folks realize that this thing was not just here for a couple of years.
    — Phil Gallo, Variety, 9 Dec. 2021
  • And a meme was born, well before any of us realized what a meme was.
    — Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 12 Oct. 2025
  • For this utopia to be realized, the web would need an overhaul.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
  • The boys realized the suspects were armed and tried to run away.
    — Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 May 2026
  • At the counter, the girls realized no one had brought money.
    — Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • The city must realize this and reckon with it.
    — Chicago Tribune, 25 Apr. 2026
  • And sometime in the next two weeks that goal should be realized again.
    — Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Even so, the early web was a dream realized.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Entrepreneurs have first off got to realize that this is a long-term game.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022
  • Even if many of their players don’t realize it yet.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2026
  • That was when my mother realized that the gates wouldn’t have been open yet.
    — Yukio Mishima, The New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2024
  • At the time, no one realized what had happened.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Carrie, though, did not live to see the play realized.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
  • That’s when his stepmom realized what the gift was.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
  • Rhaenyra realizes that she’s been played and confronts the child.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
  • Many big brands are starting to realize that.
    — Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026
  • Buñuel realized that the film would work much better if they were both cast in the same role.
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 6 Jan. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'realize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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