anonymize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anonymize
First recorded in 1855–60 for an earlier sense; the current sense was first recorded in 1970–75; anonym(ous) ( def. ) + -ize ( def. )
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:
“We design our products and services to protect people’s privacy because only DNA is harder to anonymize than human movements,” the company’s website says, quoting Georgetown law and privacy expert Paul Ohm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
They will also go to “great pains” to anonymize officers and subjects, Graham said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
Knight says the analysis shows that the current methods microbiome researchers use to filter out human DNA and anonymize samples simply don’t work well enough.
From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2023
Update, December 12, 2022: This piece has been updated to anonymize the names of two sources.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2022
Several lawyers and ethicists have suggested to me that since there is no way to anonymize HeLa cells at this point, research on them should be covered by the Common Rule.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
They’re helped out by credulous writers who’ve alluded to vague, anonymized conversations with people in the Bay Area about the same 10 percent probability of imminent extinction for a while now.
From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2026
The service I used all those years ago, Talkspace, recently launched an AI chatbot that’s, in part, trained on the company’s database of text messages between therapists and customers, which have been vetted and anonymized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Concern over the data collected by telematics and other companies has been driven by breaches, illegal sales and the growing ability to “re-identify” the source of the data even when it has been anonymized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Never input prompts with information that can be tied back to you, even if it’s anonymized later.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
“That’s the end-goal, a citywide network with all-we-can eat free connectivity, fully anonymized and hardened against malicious attackers and incidental environmental interference.”
From Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
The closing credits display a CIA address on Tor, an anonymizing network.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Carefully anonymizing survivors while breathlessly chasing a client list of powerful men unintentionally sends a message about who matters most.
From Salon ● Dec. 17, 2025
“By anonymizing themselves, they’re indicating that they are not accountable to any sort of public.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2025
The systemic anonymizing and blurring of anyone accused without proof of being a gang leader and terrorist is one way to render them unworthy of our concern.
From Slate ● May 21, 2025
At NIH, Byrnes says implementing blinded reviews on a large scale would be impractical, because anonymizing proposals is “unwieldy” and reviews take longer.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 17, 2023
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
