Synonyms

crystallize

American

[kris-tl-ahyz] / ˈkrɪs tlˌaɪz /

especially British, crystallise

verb (used with object)

to form into crystals; cause to assume crystalline form.
to give definite or concrete form to.

to crystallize an idea.
to coat with sugar.

verb (used without object)

to form crystals; become crystalline in form.
to assume definite or concrete form.

crystallize British

/ ˈkrɪstəˌlaɪz /

verb

to form or cause to form crystals; assume or cause to assume a crystalline form or structure
to coat or become coated with sugar

crystallized fruit
to give a definite form or expression to (an idea, argument, etc) or (of an idea, argument, etc) to assume a recognizable or definite form

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of crystallize

First recorded in 1590–1600; crystall- + -ize

Vocabulary lists containing crystallize

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Part 3 Vocabulary (Unit 3)

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

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:

crystallize crystallizes crystallized crystallizing

“Maybe in 24 hours, when things crystallize with the deal.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

Materials containing magnesium and calcium often form hard, dense crusts when they crystallize.

From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026

Even the Piker issue—the one that seems to crystallize so much of the anxiety there—he treated as over-indexed.

From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2026

“Today’s announcement creates a compelling opportunity that provides certainty and immediate returns for our shareholders, enabling them to crystallize the significant value generated during our strategic review,” IHS Chief Executive Officer Sam Darwish said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

He had handed over to her all the good crystalline DNA used in his original work and had agreed to confine his studies to other DNA, which he afterward found did not crystallize.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

“This situation perfectly crystallizes the global nature of infectious diseases,” Bhadelia said.

From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026

That expansion crystallizes the yearslong flow of credit outside the tightly regulated banking system and into riskier, more opaque businesses.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2025

Still, the figure crystallizes something we’ve all felt for a while — that boomers are giving more money to their millennial or Gen Z offspring than past generations.

From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2025

As he speaks these words, and I’m listening from my seat in the ballroom balcony, something crystallizes.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 12, 2024

The reality crystallizes for me, though, when Dad instructs us to take off our blindfolds and Debbie and Zara are standing in front of us.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

The recent gyrations have crystallized a new reality in a market where fortunes can rise or fall with just a handful of trillion-dollar companies: Volatility is back.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

“A lot crystallized in the past year or so.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 22, 2026

"Iron is crystallized in oxide nanoparticles making the cells superparamagnetic and reactive to magnetic fields. We found by far the strongest magnetic response in liver tissue," adds Prof. Ulf Wiedwald, from the University of Duisburg-Essen.

From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026

“So all of these things are having really profound ripple effects. This is a situation where you really are seeing crystallized the need for bio preparedness.”

From Salon ● May 11, 2026

Around her neck hung a pendant like a miniature maze, on a cord set with rubies that made Hazel think of crystallized blood drops.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

It also fears crystallizing financial losses on its portfolio by selling bonds, preferring to realize losses slowly by paying more interest on reserves than it earns on bonds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

“To the victor nations go the spoils,” Anton wrote in a 2019 essay in Foreign Policy, crystallizing a worldview that sees international relations as zero-sum competition where might makes right.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2026

There’s always been more to Garrone’s movies than unkindness, but he has a striking facility for crystallizing human baseness in images that are both specific and laden with surplus meaning.

From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2024

The supervisors’ decision was “a very crystallizing moment,” Armstrong said on the phone afterward.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2023

At least we didn’t have to store the honey in a special hot room to keep it from crystallizing, because every room we had was a hot room.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023