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:
“Since last July we’ve been participating in various efforts to demystify prefab housing for people in Altadena and the Palisades,” co-founder Caroline Paules said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 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
The goal, he said, was to demystify those fascinating fungi that popped up on his grass after heavy winter rain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026
Transparency online about the surgery has helped demystify the process, say experts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
I wanted to demystify the ANC for them, to peel away their prejudices.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The movie demystifies what’s hard and rewarding about caregiving, thanks largely to Michelle’s incredible, nuanced turn as Vanessa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2025
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
The writer and director Lorna Tucker draws from rare archival audio and home movies, elegantly assembling a portrait that both celebrates and demystifies her considerable legend.
From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
“So much of this is about building a college-going culture. They, by definition, are letting students know that college … is absolutely achievable and it demystifies the entire thing,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 27, 2023
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
Woodward writes, “I had a drilled-in respect for authority,” which seems odd coming from a reporter who has demystified and even brought down so many figures of authority.
From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2026
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
She followed with several Thanksgiving TikToks that further demystified the new arrival, including one in which she and husband Carter Reum chant “big brother” to their baby son Phoenix.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2023
We had deconstructed the content of media's stories, demystified its modes of transmission and learned to do it all for ourselves.
From Open Source Democracy by Douglas Rushkoff
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
The new season, which drops weekly on the Tastemade YouTube channel, takes viewers back to the basics, helping them create scratch staples at home and demystifying some of the most intimidating aspects of home cooking.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
Social media is feeding into the emigration economy, with dozens of influencers demystifying the process.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
He received many accolades in his life for innovation in learning, including a national award in 2019 given by President Cyril Ramaphosa for his contribution to "teaching and demystifying mathematics and science".
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2024
From Moses to modems: demystifying the storytelling and taking control We are living in a world of stories.
From Open Source Democracy by Douglas Rushkoff
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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.
