customize
Americanverb (used with object)
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customizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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customized,
past participle, past
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customizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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customizationnoun
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customizernoun
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customizableadjective
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noncustomizedadjective
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semicustomizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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customizesimple
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customizessimple
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have customizedperfect
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has customizedperfect
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am customizingprogressive
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are customizingprogressive
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is customizingprogressive
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have been customizingperfect progressive
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has been customizingperfect progressive
Past
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customizedsimple
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had customizedperfect
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was customizingprogressive
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were customizingprogressive
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had been customizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of customize
Explanation
To customize something is to make it exactly how you want it. If you put stickers all over your plain old notebook, you customize it. If you see the word customer in customize, you’re onto something — to customize is to make something to a customer’s specifications. When clothes are customized — or tailored — they’re made with you in mind, specifically. A customized suit should fit perfectly. If you customize your car, it could be bright pink with eyelashes on the headlights. Or not.
Vocabulary lists containing customize
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:
What distinguishes MeRT is its use of an AI-assisted algorithm to customize stimulation protocols based on each patient's brain activity rather than relying on a standardized approach.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
I like to arrange an almost ridiculous assortment of crunchy, creamy, salty, fresh and acidic things, allowing everyone to customize their bowls.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
The beauty of Finch is that it actively deters you from an all-or-nothing mindset; you can customize your goals realistically to your lifestyle and needs.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
Unlike proprietary models developed by companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, open-weight models are public, enabling users to download, customize and run them on their own or third-party hardware.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
“The default setting is typically ‘help,’ but you can customize as the situation allows.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
While Apple customizes many components inside iPhones, Khan said, “there isn’t a lot of customization” for memory, alluding to the possibility that commodity Chinese memory chips could be used.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Davis customizes treatment plans for each person, and individual sessions are $300 a visit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
This new testing method further advances precision medicine, which is a patient care approach that customizes treatments specifically for a person's genetics, environment and lifestyle.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024
Elevate analyzes and tracks your improvement and customizes a training program just for you.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2021
The plant sometimes customizes guns with scratches and blemishes by painting American flags on them, she said.
From Washington Post
Additional funding from Biohub then made it possible to acquire a customized, state-of-the-art Thermo Fisher Krios cryo-EM microscope and modify it to accommodate the laser technology.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
Moderna’s audacious bet that it can transform cancer treatment with customized mRNA technology is getting closer to reality.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Tau is developing a general-purpose AI model for robots, which it runs on customized third-party hardware.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
His research centers on metal organic frameworks, or MOFs, which are crystalline, porous materials with structures that can be carefully customized.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
When I look behind me, I see my customized room decked out in variations of the Warcross logo.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
The complaint said the prompts indicate Alfozan was “interested in building, customizing, installing, audio recording, testing, obfuscating, and remote accessing, among other things, a surreptitious audio listening and recording device.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
"It avoids the complex process of customizing cells and uses readily available drugs to reversibly enhance NK cells' anti-tumor activities."
From Science Daily ● May 25, 2026
Vargo purchased her home in April 2025 for about $450,000, spending closer to $465,000 all in after customizing finishes like lighting, fixtures and hardware.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 24, 2026
The key is to have fun with building and customizing your maximalist egg.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
Lena had been creating paint-by-numbers canvases for him, sketching them with expert speed, customizing each image to his specifications.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
