-ize

make or treat in a certain way

Usage

  • tantalize

    Something that is tantalizing is desirable and exciting; nevertheless, it may be out of reach, perhaps due to being too expensive.

  • bowdlerize

    To bowdlerize a book, play, or other literary work is to remove parts of it that are considered indecent or unsuitable for family reading.

  • ostracize

    If someone is ostracized from a group, its members deliberately refuse to talk or listen to them and do not allow them to take part in any of their social activities.

  • mesmerize

    If something mesmerizes you, it attracts or holds your interest so much that you do not pay attention to anything else.

  • proselytize

    A person who proselytizes tries to draw others to adopt their religion, beliefs, or causes.

  • canonize

    When the Catholic Church canonizes someone, they are officially declared a saint; this word also refers to placing a work of art or literature in an accepted group of the best of its kind.

  • temporize

    To temporize is to cause a delay in order to gain more time before making a final decision on something.

  • patronize

    If someone patronizes you, they talk or behave in a way that seems friendly; nevertheless, they also act as if they were more intelligent or important than you are.

  • lionize

    When someone is lionized, they are treated as being very important or famous—although they may not deserve to be.

  • aggrandize

    To aggrandize someone means to make them seem richer, more powerful, and more important than they really are.

  • cauterize

    If a doctor cauterizes a wound, they burn it with a laser or chemical to close it, which helps prevent infection.

  • polarization

    Polarization between two groups is a division or separation caused by a difference in opinion or conflicting views.

  • fossilized

    A soft material that becomes hardened into stone over time has become fossilized.

  • maximize

    When you maximize something, you make it as large as possible.

  • authorize

    When one person authorizes another to do something, they are given official permission to do it.

  • summarize

    To summarize something, such as a report or story, you give only the main points or most important facts about it.

  • recognize

    If you recognize someone, you know them when you see them because you have seen, learned about, or met them in the past.

  • realize

    When you realize something, you figure it out or understand it—often after taking some time to do so.

  • organize

    When you organize things, you put them into a neat order.

  • analogize

    make an analogy

  • apologize

    acknowledge faults or shortcomings or failing

  • fictionalize

    make into fiction

  • industrialize

    organize (the production of something) into an industry

  • lobotomize

    to perform a surgical procedure that disconnects the frontal lobe in the brain

  • randomize

    arrange in random order

  • revitalize

    restore strength

  • romanticize

    interpret romantically

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