radicalization

American  

[rad-i-kuh-luh-zey-shuhn] / ˌræd ɪ kə ləˈzeɪ ʃən /

especially British, radicalisation

noun

1. the act or process of becoming more extreme, as in beliefs, actions, or politics.

   The group tries to counter radicalization by promoting nonviolence and tolerance through peer-to-peer education.

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Etymology

Origin of radicalization

radical ( def. ) + -ization ( def. )

Explanation

The process of a person's views becoming more and more extreme is radicalization. Terrorism is one result of religious or political radicalization. Radicalization pushes people to one end or another of the political spectrum, or to an extreme or strict version of a religion. While this can have good or bad consequences (revolutions and social change often require radical action), the noun radicalization is frequently used in a negative way, to describe beliefs that lead to violent extremism. The Latin root of radicalization means "root," from the sense of "change from the roots."

Example Sentences

Flavio Rolim, head of the police's cyber hate crime unit, told AFP that while not everyone consuming this kind of content turns to violence, there was a "process of radicalization," of men.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

In this environment, an effective national counterterrorism strategy would likely point to stopping terrorism further upstream, interrupting radicalization and violent mobilization at an earlier stage.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

But they share several threads: lawful presence, few warning signals, online radicalization, and attacks carried out without the fingerprints of an organized network.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

Her lab partners with educators, pastors and parents to “inoculate” kids against online radicalization and researches pipelines that lead to extreme acts of violence.

From Salon • Sep. 21, 2025

With a group of men, silent as himself, he worked at the radicalization of the factories and labor unions.

From Erik Dorn by Hecht, Ben