institutionalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make institutional.
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to make into or treat as an institution.
the danger of institutionalizing racism.
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to place or confine in an institution, especially one for the care of mental illness, alcoholism, etc.
verb
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(tr; often passive) to subject to the deleterious effects of confinement in an institution
a mental patient who was institutionalized into boredom and apathy
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(tr) to place in an institution
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to make or become an institution
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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institutionalizesimple
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institutionalizessimple
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have institutionalizedperfect
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has institutionalizedperfect
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am institutionalizingprogressive
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are institutionalizingprogressive
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is institutionalizingprogressive
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have been institutionalizingperfect progressive
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has been institutionalizingperfect progressive
Past
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institutionalizedsimple
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had institutionalizedperfect
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was institutionalizingprogressive
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were institutionalizingprogressive
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had been institutionalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of institutionalize
First recorded in 1860–65; institutional + -ize
Explanation
To institutionalize someone is to send them to a place where they can be taken care of. Institutionalize also means that something is part of the system. If men are paid more than women, then gender bias has been institutionalized. The verb institutionalize is usually used to talk about committing people to hospitals, nursing homes, or other facilities where they will live and be taken care of in some way. There's another meaning of the word that means "to establish as a regular way of doing things." In this case, a teacher might institutionalize the tradition of ordering pizza for the class once a month; in other words, pizza parties would become a permanent, official part of the school year.
Vocabulary lists containing institutionalize
The Battle of the Labyrinth
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Words with 15 or More Letters, List 3
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Ronald Reagan's Address at Moscow State University (1988)
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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:
However, the tolling system would institutionalize rather than solve the friction.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
“Too many approaches to peace-building foster perpetual dependency, and institutionalize crisis rather than leading people beyond it,” the charter’s preamble says, calling for “a coalition of willing States committed to practical cooperation and effective action.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
The state’s universities, despite being leaders in the field, have struggled to institutionalize disability scholarship and to hire disabled faculty to teach it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2024
"The task is to solidify and institutionalize it," Feldman said.
From Reuters ● Oct. 30, 2023
These hospitals are no longer mentioned after the dissolution of the London Company, nor were any other comparable measures taken during the century to institutionalize care for the sick.
From Medicine in Virginia, 1607-1699 by Hughes, Thomas Proctor
In a nutshell, the federal complaint is that our state institutionalizes too many children, sometimes out of state and far from their families.
From Washington Times ● May 22, 2019
He is famous for his scathing critiques against the art world, particularly against art education, which he believes institutionalizes mediocrity through its systematic rejection of good ideas.
From Slate ● Dec. 6, 2013
It’s played for laughs, but the way the medical establishment institutionalizes her so quickly carries a harsh edge.
From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2010
Indexing, which automatically raises wages and pensions along with the price index, is not a cure but a disease that institutionalizes inflation, added Okun.
From Time Magazine Archive
Man's genius for organization institutionalizes every aspect of thought and activity he takes under his control.
From The Family and it's Members by Spencer, Anna Garlin
“Resurrectionists” – body snatchers – exhumed the recently buried, disproportionately targeting the poor, the institutionalized and those without family protection or the financial means to guard graves.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026
Nothing about the very obvious messages here—about colonialism, religious fanaticism, institutionalized violence and the exploitation of native peoples—amounts to a news flash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Without such unpaid family support, older adults would go without care or end up in institutionalized care, which would further burden the healthcare system and public programs like Medicaid.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026
Still, Alary said, even when he was institutionalized and forced to be without his phone, he was itching to get back to Aimee as soon as he was let out.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2026
Chiefdoms characteristically have an ideology, precursor to an institutionalized religion, that buttresses the chief’s authority.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
“The only question to my mind is what sort of deal Iran can work out in terms of monetizing and institutionalizing its control of the strait.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
Analysts suggest China’s move is noteworthy, institutionalizing its export control system.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2025
The Supreme Court has ruled that institutionalizing people with disabilities who could live in the community is discriminatory if a community placement “can be reasonably accommodated.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2024
“They’re still out there institutionalizing children with little to no oversight or regulation.”
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2024
The bantustan system had been conceived by Dr. H. F. Verwoerd, the minister of native affairs, as a way of muting international criticism of South African racial policies but at the same time institutionalizing apartheid.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
