demystify
Americanverb (used with object)
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demystifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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demystified,
past participle, past
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demystifying
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
demystifysimple
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demystifiessimple
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have demystifiedperfect
-
has demystifiedperfect
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am demystifyingprogressive
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are demystifyingprogressive
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is demystifyingprogressive
-
have been demystifyingperfect progressive
-
has been demystifyingperfect progressive
Past
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demystifiedsimple
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had demystifiedperfect
-
was demystifyingprogressive
-
were demystifyingprogressive
-
had been demystifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of demystify
Explanation
To demystify something is to make it much easier to understand or see. Your favorite math teacher might be the one who manages to demystify calculus for you. When you demystify things, you remove any mystery or secrecy connected with them. You might feel the need to demystify complicated or difficult ideas, subjects, or tasks. A car repair class can demystify the idea of working on your own engine, and traveling to France often helps language learners demystify the French language. To mystify is to bewilder or perplex, from the Latin root mysticus, "mystical, mystic, or secret."
Vocabulary lists containing demystify
"A Village After Dark" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 24–September 30, 2022
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Women in Space
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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 Art of Gathering” is trying to demystify how anyone can create meaningful experiences with other people without having to all be the same.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Such emotional familiarity ensures that even a quick dinner over sandwiches in the park can provide us with conversational carte blanche, a space to decompress and demystify without judgment.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Lee’s priorities include expanding civic engagement and language accessibility, with an aim to demystify legal proceedings for students and nonnative English speakers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
"It is important to demystify surgeries that celebrities have and educate patients," he says.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
I wanted to demystify the ANC for them, to peel away their prejudices.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
For the last two years, she and the Seattle-based retailer produced “Cook Out,” a video series that demystifies outdoor cooking and spotlights food purveyors from around the Northwest.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
By being open about her autism, Woo defuses and demystifies it for neurotypical colleagues and clients.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 13, 2023
This is why the movie’s surest asset as a feminist narrative is how Alsop’s example demystifies conducting while still retaining its power to enchant us, and yet look like the hard work that it is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2022
“Black No More” demystifies Harlem as a mecca by wrapping its arms around it, wiping off the glitter while celebrating its charm.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2022
Kantar applies AI to a bank of human emotions recorded on film and assembled in the cloud and demystifies our real sentiments.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2021
In 2006, Shelby told the American Enterprise Institute that having a white mother and black father has been a “profound advantage” because it demystified race.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
And if you’ve been on backlots or know people who work in the film and television industries, the magic of the moving picture may already be demystified.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
Other recent studies have demystified the complexity of the feline mind, its behaviors and our relationship with them.
From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2023
He also "demystified" State House, by opening it up for many people including children and celebrities to visit and look round.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2022
He has deconstructed the content of the game, demystified the technology of its interface and now feels ready to open the codes and turn the game into a do-it-yourself activity.
From Open Source Democracy by Douglas Rushkoff
“We don’t have the money, but a lot of the work we do is political and civic education, demystifying power, and making people understand they have agency.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
There’s something very powerful there: She’s demystifying a process that can still be shrouded in unnecessary secrecy, and making a choice many women have at least considered.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
But Child became famous by demystifying it with her deep culinary knowledge, boundless enthusiasm, humor and honesty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
"It's really important that the curtain is pulled back from opera, demystifying what the process is and the many talented people who put so much time and energy and their talents into making an opera."
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2024
Both voices, those idealizing and those demystifying the past, should be heard: We enslaved part of nature and took it upon ourselves to annihilate animals or, worse, change their genetic structure.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Mihai Nadin
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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.
