centralized
Americanadjective
-
controlled from one place.
The individual police departments will transition to the centralized dispatch system beginning in October.
After years of opting for top-down regulatory approaches, the new administration has decided to move toward a less centralized form of government oversight.
-
existing in one place, or being the center point of a network: The system allows users to record subscriber complaints in a single database, creating a centralized source of information to assist us in pinpointing systematic delivery problems.
Each computer has a twisted-pair cable that runs to a centralized hub.
The system allows users to record subscriber complaints in a single database, creating a centralized source of information to assist us in pinpointing systematic delivery problems.
verb
Other Word Forms
- uncentralized adjective
Etymology
Origin of centralized
Explanation
Anything that's centralized is under the control of one unified authority or located in a single place, like a centralized government. If a business is centralized, it operates from a central location, rather than spreading things out between stores, offices, or factories. Managers of satellite offices have less power if they work for a centralized company, where decisions are made in a home office. A centralized government works the same way, with power concentrated in the executive branch. Centralized derives from a Latin word meaning "center" and the Greek root kentron, "sharp point."
Vocabulary lists containing centralized
Eastern Europe - Introductory
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Eastern Europe - Middle School and High School
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Japanese History - Middle School and High School
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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.
The experiments supported a key idea: highly complex coordination does not require advanced intelligence or centralized control.
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026
Drift’s platform is based on the Solana blockchain, which allows people to trade cryptocurrencies without any centralized authority overseeing the process.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
FDEs would send their front-line code back to centralized product engineers, who would repackage the field solutions into generalizable tools for future use.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026
Live offers a more centralized, campus-style setting, with venues and event spaces clustered together.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
Throughout human history, centralized states with metal weapons and armies supported by dense agricultural populations have swept away sparser populations of stone-tool-using hunter-gatherers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
