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Synonyms

externalization

American  
[ik-stur-nl-uh-zay-shuhn] / ɪkˌstɜr nl əˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. the act or process of externalizing.

  2. the quality or state of being externalized.

  3. something that is externalized.


Etymology

Origin of externalization

First recorded in 1795–1805; externalize + -ation

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:

Despite its contradictory history as a symbol of democracy built by enslaved people, it is a blameless externalization of America.

From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2025

“A key feature we see common among mass killers is this externalization of blame,” Fridel said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2023

There’s a hunger for entertainment that favors unflinching articulation and externalization over implication and internalization — to have our greatest fears verbalized without restraint, even heavy-handedly, along with a good deal of style and wit.

From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2022

In screenwriting, though, externalization is everything, and her characteristic restraint was her signal contribution to the other great triangle of her life: Jhabvala, Merchant, Ivory.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 31, 2018

But thoughts, as potent entities, must pass from the formative, nebulous condition into a crystallized state by, and through some form of externalization of language, spoken or written.

From Insights and Heresies Pertaining to the Evolution of the Soul by Anna Bishop Scofield

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