deodorize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
deodorizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deodorized,
past participle, past
-
deodorizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
deodorizesimple
-
deodorizessimple
-
have deodorizedperfect
-
has deodorizedperfect
-
am deodorizingprogressive
-
are deodorizingprogressive
-
is deodorizingprogressive
-
have been deodorizingperfect progressive
-
has been deodorizingperfect progressive
Past
-
deodorizedsimple
-
had deodorizedperfect
-
was deodorizingprogressive
-
were deodorizingprogressive
-
had been deodorizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deodorize
Explanation
To deodorize is to remove or hide bad smells. After cooking fish, you could deodorize your kitchen by burning a cinnamon-scented candle. Whenever you cover up a stinky odor, you deodorize. Using deodorant under your arms is one way to deodorize, and spraying an air freshener around your house or burning incense are other ways. The word dates from the 19th century, from a combination of de-, "undo" or "do the opposite of," odor, Latin for "a smell," and -ize, a verb-forming suffix.
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:
Lineage is also using misters inside the building to try to deodorize the food until it is removed from the site.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Sprinkle it on carpets or rugs to clean and deodorize, or mix with dish soap to clean your sink.
From Fox News ● Dec. 30, 2021
The point of the ad: Since Dave won’t be at your Super Bowl party, but everyone else will, you should probably buy some Febreze to deodorize your bathroom after your gluttonous friends destroy it.
From Slate ● Feb. 5, 2018
Keep garbage cans clean and deodorize them with bleach or ammonia.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2017
At the Ontario Station a patent disinfectant wash called "Zenoleum" was incidentally used to deodorize incubators.
From The Dollar Hen by Milo M. (Milo Milton) Hastings
While the lemon deodorizes any unwanted smells, the salt scrapes off any remaining residue.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2023
But in showing lots of faces headed for the loo, the spray that deodorizes air by reodorizing it pulls it off with a spot asking whether your bathroom is ready for America’s “halftime bathroom break.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2017
First, lactic-acid bacteria are added after each defecation: the anaerobic fermentation sanitizes and deodorizes.
From Nature ● Jun. 13, 2012
The powdered bark is very useful as an application to indolent ulcers which it instantly deodorizes; like powdered quinine it is used in the treatment of superficial gangrene.
From The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Jerome Beers Thomas
The oil is extracted from sources such as soybeans, palm fruit, canola seeds, sunflower seeds, and corn, and is then refined, bleached, and deodorized to make it more palatable.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
“I went down to the front desk to see if there were any rooms that had been cleaned and deodorized the day before, so the scent would not be as strong.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2022
Until Wynnewood’s pretreater unit is up and running the company plans to run refined deodorized and bleached soybean oil and treated corn oil.
From Reuters ● Nov. 2, 2021
For a brief period, perhaps, the players themselves deodorized the smell coming from College Park with their valiant play.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 25, 2018
Petrarchism returned, madrigals came in vogue, the social atmosphere was deodorized again.
From Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern by Edgar Saltus
Throughout the process, Huml also uses a variety of machines to clean the air, including air scrubbers, deodorizing hydroxyl generators and negative air machines that clean the air and push it outside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2025
Researchers tested the garlic deodorizing capacity of yogurt and its individual components of water, fat and protein to see how each stood up to the stink.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2023
For combination products, you have to choose between which effect you want to be stronger, the sweat-blocking plug or the deodorizing fragrance, says Shari Lipner, an associate professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2023
Some deodorants marketed as “natural” use ingredients such as baking soda, activated charcoal and tea tree oil for their antimicrobial and deodorizing properties.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2022
In consequence of the offensiveness of the open pail, the next improvement was to throw in some form of deodorizing material daily.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 421, January 26, 1884 by Various
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
