contextualize
Americanverb (used with object)
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contextualizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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contextualized,
past participle, past
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contextualizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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contextualizesimple
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contextualizessimple
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have contextualizedperfect
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has contextualizedperfect
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am contextualizingprogressive
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are contextualizingprogressive
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is contextualizingprogressive
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have been contextualizingperfect progressive
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has been contextualizingperfect progressive
Past
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contextualizedsimple
-
had contextualizedperfect
-
was contextualizingprogressive
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were contextualizingprogressive
-
had been contextualizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of contextualize
First recorded in 1930–35; contextual + -ize
Explanation
When you contextualize something, you provide important and relevant background information to make it easier to understand or explain. In other words, you provide context. If you're learning about a historical event, your teacher might contextualize it by explaining what else was happening in the world at that time: What circumstances set the stage for that particular event? What were people's mindsets at the time, and why? Wars, for example, don't just happen. There are situations, cultural norms, prior events, and ways of thinking that lead to them. Contextualizing is like adding details to a story to make the whole narrative make sense.
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:
"TRACE allowed us to contextualize how the ancestry segments from these previously uncharacterized hominins are distributed throughout the human genome," Biddanda said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
“These things were obviously true, and the knowledge undoubtedly helped doctors contextualize their patients’ problems.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
His attempt to contextualize his comments in a LinkedIn post Friday backfired.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
You contextualize learned behavior; you contextualize trauma and things they learned that make them these repressed adults.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
It is the Bible and the tradition of the Church which provides the textual testimony; the circumstances contextualize the testimony and accompany it.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Worthwhile documentaries crystallize a point in time in a way that contextualizes current circumstances.
From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2025
It cements the reality of the event and contextualizes it within a broader narrative.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 12, 2023
Molly Olmstead contextualizes the controversy and argues that the Sisters’ work is hardly at odds with the work of religious sisters generally.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2023
The four-disc Blu-ray set also contextualizes the history and impact of this work via an impressive assortment of intros, documentaries, interviews and commentary tracks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2022
Her book both documents and contextualizes Villanueva’s spiritual journey against the backdrop of Peru’s religious and political history.
From New York Times ● Aug. 2, 2022
Real history is much more than just dates, facts and characters; it also encompasses how they are interpreted and contextualized.
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
“Not an unbounded and unlimited entity with high degrees of autonomy – but AI that is carefully calibrated, contextualized, within limits.”
From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026
Cignetti contextualized last year’s comeuppance—OSU and ND met in the national championship, he reminded everyone—while reloading for 2025 with a new quarterback and confidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025
Just don’t expect anything about this elemental contest to be explained to you, or even contextualized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2025
But the Picture of the Year prize opted to recirculate an image that was not captured or contextualized in print as an indictment.
From Slate ● Apr. 11, 2024
He suggested a “three-prong approach” to contextualizing the topic of “holdover” fires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
But as the movie winds back to foreground instructor Hori’s POV, adding contextualizing reverse angles and extra information to every replayed moment after, a thornier reality emerges, one that absolves and complicates in equal measure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 30, 2023
And yet that’s precisely why Adair’s straightforward contextualizing is so vital.
From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2023
But embedded in such restrictions one may infer either a resistance to having his work pushed to the fringes, or a pretension in contextualizing it as a mainstream experience.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2023
We learn to read all our original sources with a grain of salt, and develop innovative ways of analyzing and contextualizing them.
From Slate ● May 21, 2023
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.
