anatomize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cut apart (an animal or plant) to show or examine the position, structure, and relation of the parts; display the anatomy of; dissect.
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to examine in great detail; analyze minutely.
The couple anatomized their new neighbor.
verb
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to dissect (an animal or plant)
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to examine in minute detail
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anatomize
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French anatomiser or < Medieval Latin anatomizāre. See anatomy, -ize
Vocabulary lists containing anatomize
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:
They make their lives from the bits of gender and love and culture they’ve been given, and there’s no place to stand outside that messy process and anatomize, dissect or categorize them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2021
And the production wore its frailties so flamboyantly and desperately, it was a cinch to anatomize them.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2020
They anatomize sunspots by way of US astronomer George Ellery Hale, who pioneered their observation with his 1889 invention of the spectroheliograph.
From Nature ● Jul. 18, 2017
Leigh’s work has largely been focused on contemporary ensemble pieces that anatomize British society, made in collaboration with a dedicated repertory of actors who fashion each film from an intensive process of improvised rehearsals.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 26, 2014
"We anatomize flies," replied the philosopher, "we measure lines, we make calculations, we agree upon two or three points which we understand, and dispute upon two or three thousand that are beyond our comprehension."
From Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume by
British novelist John le Carré, who anatomized Cold War spycraft and sometimes even influenced it, has died after a short illness at the age of 89.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2020
When the cameras closed in on her as she claimed her Globe, writers breathlessly anatomized every facet of her look.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2017
The conclusion to “American Notes,” of 1842, a book that won him few friends in the land that he had toured, anatomized what he had found there:
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 10, 2016
Her guitar tone is produced warmly, which makes one feel comforted even if they’re being emotionally anatomized.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 9, 2015
The feeling of objection to having the bodies of friends anatomized is natural and not due to religion.
From The Popes and Science The History of the Papal Relations to Science During the Middle Ages and Down to Our Own Time by Walsh, James J.
She has always had plenty to say about that, but now she is more interested in anatomizing all the forces that carved her into the woman she is today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2021
It’s a great environment for anatomizing an uncommonly thoughtful family, which is held together by Marshall’s softly determined Barbara.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 9, 2015
Since his debut at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, critics have enjoyed anatomizing Xavier Dolan’s manic yet sublime style.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2015
Each incident of Internet straying brings its own gleeful anatomizing.
From Slate ● Feb. 1, 2013
Go on anatomizing your own feelings, and poring over your own corruptions, if you are so determined.
From Practical Religion Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians by Ryle, John Charles
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.
