dichotomize

especially British, di·chot·o·mise

[dahy-kot-uh-mahyz]

verb (used with object)

dichotomized, dichotomizing 

1. to divide or separate into two parts, kinds, etc.

verb (used without object)

dichotomized, dichotomizing 

1. to become divided into two parts; form a dichotomy.

dichotomize

/ daɪˈkɒtəˌmaɪz /

verb

1. to divide or become divided into two parts or classifications

Other Word Forms

• dichotomist noun
• dichotomistic adjective
• dichotomization noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dichotomize¹

1600–10; < Late Latin dichotom ( os ) dichotomous + -ize

Example Sentences

The legacy of Scott Morrison’s government is that the public debate about pandemic restrictions has been dichotomized, he said.

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Redressing this balance in ways that avoid harmful and false dichotomizing, could serve several critical functions in the context of COVID-19, particularly in terms of avoiding growing inequity.

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“If we’re too positive, it can become an empty platitude. The ‘and’ addresses our natural instinct to dichotomize an experience and call it either good or bad.”

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Much of the rhetoric surrounding immigration and potential reform is dichotomized: There is the “us,” the legal citizens of the United States, and the “them,” the foreign others whom President Trump’s proposed wall would obstruct.

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Yet when language scholars try to debunk the spurious rules, the dichotomizing mindset imagines that they are trying to abolish all standards of good writing.

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Related Words

• break 
• disband 
• divide 
• isolate 
• open 
• rip 
• rive 
• separate 
• sever 
• splinter 
• tear