galvanize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to stimulate to action; excite; startle
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to cover (iron, steel, etc) with a protective zinc coating by dipping into molten zinc or by electrodeposition
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to stimulate by application of an electric current
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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galvanizationnoun
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galvanizernoun
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regalvanizationnoun
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pregalvanizeverb (used with object)
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regalvanizeverb (used with object)
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nongalvanizedadjective
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ungalvanizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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galvanizesimple
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galvanizessimple
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have galvanizedperfect
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has galvanizedperfect
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am galvanizingprogressive
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are galvanizingprogressive
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is galvanizingprogressive
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have been galvanizingperfect progressive
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has been galvanizingperfect progressive
Past
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galvanizedsimple
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had galvanizedperfect
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was galvanizingprogressive
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were galvanizingprogressive
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had been galvanizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of galvanize
First recorded in 1795–1805; from French galvaniser, named after Luigi Galvani; see -ize
Explanation
The verb galvanize means to stimulate or incite someone into taking action. Your impassioned speech might galvanize the other members of the Ecology Club to start a school-wide recycling initiative. The word galvanize initially meant "to stimulate muscles by administering electric shocks." It was coined to honor the 18th-century scientist Luigi Galvani, who found that a spark could make a frog's legs move. This discovery of "animal electricity" inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, (a novel in which a mad scientist attempts to use electricity to galvanize a monster to life). Galvanize also means to cover steel or iron with zinc so it doesn’t rust.
Vocabulary lists containing galvanize
This Week in Words: September 15 - 21, 2018
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This Week in Words: March 10 - 16, 2018
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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:
It was also likely a means to galvanize himself against how that experience alerted him to the omnipresent nearness of death.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
Even starting a niche, alternative product can help galvanize broader change, said Jiye Son, the founder and chief executive of Anew, noting that a lot of chemical companies also have cosmetic departments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
"We hope that this study will galvanize efforts to have yeast on board in future space explorations."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 8, 2026
“Fear is a powerful motivator, and today we’re seeing how fear can galvanize people into making decisions for their own self-protection,” Brown says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2025
Ann quickly found a focus for her housing work that fall, in two incidents that would galvanize the black community in Durham over the next few years.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
It just sort of galvanizes and I'm seeing all of that now.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025
He can’t figure out what he’s doing there either, but he galvanizes the show with a version of Prince’s “Purple Rain” retitled “Herman Cain” and ultimately proves that he’s nobody’s puppet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
These dynamics are very different from other evolutionary systems where inter-group conflict galvanizes cooperative responses -- the nested and sequential nature of the evolution of natural resource governance systems causes the difference.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024
Such evidence of depravity typically galvanizes global action and demands for justice.
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2023
Seeing the paper chain in danger galvanizes them into action.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
The Liuzzo family was harassed for their mother’s activism even after her death, but the event galvanized activists all over the country, becoming one impetus for Congress to finally pass the landmark 1965 legislation.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Many were galvanized by the police’s decision over the weekend to forcibly hospitalize a prominent activist who has been on a hunger strike in support of the movement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Platner galvanized an enthusiastic base of supporters and weathered months of controversies surrounding his personal life by selling a story of redemption and what he called “healthy” masculinity.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
"In the winter time, when the weather's bad, that's kind of when we thrive... We're open 365 days a year," said Matuszewski, who described how the World Cup had galvanized interest in soccer.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Olmsted returned to Chicago accompanied by his usual troika of affliction and found the place galvanized, Burnham everywhere at once.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
But if the movie’s just-so fatalism is less than galvanizing, it’s also soberly convincing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
She died days after the Women’s March, a galvanizing nationwide event attended by many who count her among the forces that awakened their feminism.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
She said the peaceful demonstrations since the start of the sprawling immigration raids were a strength of the movement galvanizing against the raids.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
The galvanizing anthem, written for the film by Stephen Schwartz, was a technical and emotional feat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
Rather, he “devoured” the book: it struck him like a jolt of electricity, both paralyzing and galvanizing him.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions 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.
