catechize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to instruct orally by means of questions and answers, especially in Christian doctrine.
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to question with reference to belief.
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to question closely.
- Synonyms:
- probe, examine, quiz, interrogate
verb
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to teach or examine by means of questions and answers
-
to give oral instruction in Christianity, esp by using a catechism
-
to put questions to (someone)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of catechize
1375–1425; late Middle English < Late Latin catēchizāre < Greek katēchízein to make (someone) learn by teaching orally, equivalent to katēch ( eîn ) to teach orally ( see catechist) + -izein -ize
Vocabulary lists containing catechize
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:
Then the Cardinal began to catechize the priest who had once been an assistant to his secretariat.
From Time Magazine Archive
But the dean kept Michal back in order to catechize her, and began to put various questions to her, which she answered so promptly and so correctly that he was perfectly delighted.
From Pretty Michal by Jókai, Mór
But the worst will be to catechize us as if we were witnesses in court.
From The Brightener by Williamson, A. M. (Alice Muriel)
In a moment the car was again in motion, but the driver, a man of fifty or thereabouts, found time to catechize his guest.
From The Bail Jumper by Stead, Robert J. C.
Therefore to catechize and to exorcize do not belong to the office of the priests, but rather to that of the ministers.
From Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
I was, in my view, blessed to be raised in the church and catechized as a little kid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
“This exchange had catechized Julian on several points,” Ava thinks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2020
While they ate, they catechized her on her opinions, and were delighted to find that she believed in God and expected to vote Conservative when she was twenty-one.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 2, 2012
Several of the catechized broke down, one wept convulsively.
From Time Magazine Archive
I catechized her, knowing that her word with Father was pretty well law.
From Secret History Revealed By Lady Peggy O'Malley by Rowe, Clarence H. (Clarence Herbert)
A Clergyman engaged in catechizing a village school, asked a youngster, “what his godfathers and godmothers did for him?”
From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2018
He absolutely could not leave off catechizing her.
From Pretty Michal by Jókai, Mór
Miss Jane sighed and rolled up her eyes, and then the two commenced a vigorous catechizing of the little girl.
From A World of Girls The Story of a School by Meade, L. T.
“Quite often,” and she sat down, knowing the catechizing would be likely to continue for some minutes.
From The Fifth String by Sousa, John Philip
"Interest questions" are just what the words imply, and have about them no suspicion of the inquisitive and impertinent catechizing which only fools, and not even knaves, indulge in.
From Conversation What to Say and How to Say it by Conklin, Mary Greer
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.
