revolutionize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
revolutionizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
revolutionized,
past participle, past
-
revolutionizing
present participle
-
to bring about a revolution in; effect a radical change in.
to revolutionize petroleum refining methods.
-
to subject to a political revolution.
verb
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to bring about a radical change in
science has revolutionized civilization
-
to inspire or infect with revolutionary ideas
they revolutionized the common soldiers
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to cause a revolution in (a country, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
revolutionizesimple
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revolutionizessimple
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have revolutionizedperfect
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has revolutionizedperfect
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am revolutionizingprogressive
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are revolutionizingprogressive
-
is revolutionizingprogressive
-
have been revolutionizingperfect progressive
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has been revolutionizingperfect progressive
Past
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revolutionizedsimple
-
had revolutionizedperfect
-
was revolutionizingprogressive
-
were revolutionizingprogressive
-
had been revolutionizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of revolutionize
First recorded in 1790–1800; revolution + -ize
Explanation
Revolutionize, a verb, means "to make a major change," like in the 1990s, when the Internet revolutionized how people communicated, got information and even did their jobs. Things were never the same again. Use revolutionize to describe something that is completely transformed. Originally, it meant "to bring about sweeping political change," like people who band together and fight to revolutionize a nation, with the end result being a new party in power or new philosophies about things like land ownership or tax collection put in place. In time, it also came to mean even nonpolitical change, like the digital music player, which revolutionized how people get and listen to music.
Vocabulary lists containing revolutionize
100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center" by John F. Kennedy
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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:
Humanoid robots have the potential to revolutionize life as we know it, and robotics startups across the globe are trying to bring them to market as soon as possible.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
Compare that to Mark Zuckerberg, a similarly self-aggrandizing figure who claims to be working on a project that will revolutionize art, commerce and the way that the average person engages with the world.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
In the new series, Wanda moves to center stage as she becomes laser-focused on making it big in the music business, convinced that the fledgling rap genre can revolutionize American culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
The authors enthused that the partnership "showcased how innovative approaches, even involving unconventional collaborators, can revolutionize oceanographic research."
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
I went back to Pop’s to tell Elizabeth and Bertrand that Francis and I had probably beaten Pauling to the gate and that the answer would revolutionize biology.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
"This research revolutionizes our understanding of the jugal bone in snake and non-snake lizards," said Michael Caldwell, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, and a co-author on the study.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2026
Maybe that’s the real magic of a tool like this: not that it revolutionizes your cooking, but that it makes the most ordinary meal feel new again.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025
And, just like that, he revolutionizes the sport of shot put.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2024
He believes he has now found it, with the help of a retired quarterback and a drone engineer, and hopes it revolutionizes the way hockey players at all levels train in the gym.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 11, 2022
Bah! the mere existence of such creatures revolutionizes Darwin's theory—argues the survival of the unfittest.
From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 12 by William Cowper Brann
Ditka, who won two Super Bowls as a coach and one as a player, revolutionized the tight end position, transforming it from a primarily blocking-focused role to one that could pose a threat in receiving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
With all the changes from AI, "the computer has to be revolutionized," Huang said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Schick revolutionized shaving with injector razors and multiblades in a single cartridge, slugging it out in the marketplace for decades with rival shaving giant Gillette.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
"GLP-1-based medications have revolutionized the therapy of obesity. We now have a very effective pharmacotherapy for achieving significant weight loss," Petersen says.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
These reporters, who use cell phones and smuggle out sound and video recordings on tiny USB memory sticks, have revolutionized news coverage of North Korea.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
For the home cooks: OXO is best known for revolutionizing the salad spinner, but it has also redesigned the garlic press, the can opener, the vegetable peeler … the list goes on.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
ChatGPT-style AI is revolutionizing the world of high-level math by quickly solving famous, long-unsolved problems that stumped experts for decades.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Ted Turner created CNN in 1980, revolutionizing the way America, and the world, got their news, and then went on to become one of the most prominent business leaders and philanthropists of his era.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
With drones revolutionizing the battlefield in Ukraine, Iran and beyond, the U.S. is striving to dominate this latest evolution in military technology the way it has with previous wartime innovations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
By that time, carbon dating was already revolutionizing archaeology.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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