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:
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
Still, these funds may work better as a starting point until retirement investors are ready to customize their plans to meet their financial needs and goals.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Open-weight models, whose developers, including Nvidia, make them available to download so users can run and customize them on their own, would be exempt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Like most of China's offerings, it costs less and uses source code that programmers can customize.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 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
Whenever she’s on the hunt for a new pair, her first stop is the Rose Bowl Flea Market where she finds Allyn Scura, a local vendor, who customizes vintage frames.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 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
Kestenbaum uses Ikea for playrooms a lot, but customizes the pieces so the room doesn’t read Ikea.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2023
The plant sometimes customizes guns with scratches and blemishes by painting American flags on them, she said.
From Washington Post
Because some DNA sequences can be programmed to interact more strongly than others, scientists may eventually be able to take advantage of these properties to build customized DNA structures for biotechnology.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
She had experience painting sets at work for the entertainment industry, but had never customized a rental of her own like this.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The chips Broadcom is helping customers design are customized for specific computing work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Her new home boasts 12 bedrooms and 20 bathrooms, and sits on a staggering 6-acre spread that was fully customized by Wahlberg before he moved out in 2022.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
They’re often attracted to New Age beliefs such as Tarot cards, the I Ching, astrology and biorhythms, since these provide them with personally customized pronouncements.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
"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
Average time spent in the FAO Schwarz store has increased by 10% since it introduced these experiences, which include other first-come-first-serve interactive displays like customizing toys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
Aaliyah Warren, 23, professional roller skater, model and performer: We love customizing our boots, so we get them graffitied and painted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2025
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
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.
