symbolize
Americanverb (used with object)
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symbolizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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symbolized,
past participle, past
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symbolizing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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symbolizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
symbolized,
past participle, past
-
symbolizing
present participle
verb
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(tr) to serve as or be a symbol of
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to represent by a symbol or symbols
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(intr) to use symbols
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(tr) to treat or regard as symbolic or figurative
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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symbolizesimple
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symbolizessimple
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have symbolizedperfect
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has symbolizedperfect
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am symbolizingprogressive
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are symbolizingprogressive
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is symbolizingprogressive
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have been symbolizingperfect progressive
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has been symbolizingperfect progressive
Past
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symbolizedsimple
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had symbolizedperfect
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was symbolizingprogressive
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were symbolizingprogressive
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had been symbolizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of symbolize
From the New Latin word symbolizāre, dating back to 1580–90. See symbol, -ize
Explanation
Use the verb symbolize when you use an image, shape, color, or other simple visual to stand for something else, like when you wear black to symbolize that you're mourning a loss. To symbolize is to make a symbol out of something. Symbolize traces back to the Greek word symbolon, which combines syn-, meaning "together," and bol, meaning "to throw." The earliest Christians were, so to speak, "thrown together" because of their beliefs, and so the Christian "marks" that represented their belief in one God became the first items to be described as symbols.
Vocabulary lists containing symbolize
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Vocabulary to Describe Literary Devices
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The hills, glittering with celebrity, seemed to symbolize a culture and people that existed largely on the surface.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The only object that could better symbolize his time in office is the gold toilet erected as an art installation in D.C. by a mysterious collective called the Secret Handshake.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
The city owes more than its name to the first commander in chief; George Washington encouraged the French developer Pierre Charles L’Enfant to design a capital that would symbolize the nation.
From Slate ● May 18, 2026
She wanted to repurpose it as a pendant to symbolize a new beginning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
What does it symbolize, what could it represent, or what do you associate it with?
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
In part, however, it is being led by the film that most aptly symbolizes Zaslav’s failures.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
A: Ruth symbolizes what she herself expressed: decency.
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
Yet, somehow, this problematic statistic and all that it symbolizes doesn’t even register.
From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2026
Fink argues that the song reflects a time of centralized power within the music industry, but symbolizes a desire to escape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
Others speculate that the name was chosen for its obvious symbolism: White often represents purity, and a rose often symbolizes love, peace, or the beauty of nature and life.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Sports Illustrated journalists were getting requests from peers looking to score invites to the gatherings, which symbolized a turnaround at the 72-year-old title.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
The moment that symbolized this transformation came with his own death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
She knew what “The Muppet Show” star symbolized and recognized what she meant to her misfit youngest, a zaftig kid frequently chided for taking up too much space.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
For generations, it has symbolized resilience and rural life, valued for its toughness, ability to graze on marginal land, and nutrient-dense milk that supported small farmers.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 26, 2026
Perhaps it is self-knowledge, symbolized here by the mirror.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
They are clad variously in red porphyry, black basalt, gray granite and yellowish sandstone from nearby Montjuïc, with emblems symbolizing the four evangelists, the 12 apostles and an assortment of Catholic saints and geographic regions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Hanukkah celebrates the miracle when a small amount of oil burned for eight days in the rededicated Temple in Jerusalem, symbolizing how light, faith, and resilience will overcome darkness, violence and oppression.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026
The tall teal pillars of the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, mark one of the busiest land borders in North America, symbolizing a profitable and once-dependable partnership.
From Salon ● Dec. 2, 2025
This mutual cooperation embodies the Japanese concept of "AUN," symbolizing balance and harmony between opposites.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2025
The Extreme Teen Bible had a black cover with hot-blue writing and these laser-type neon bolts everywhere, symbolizing what, I don’t know.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
