internalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to incorporate (the cultural values, mores, motives, etc., of another or of a group), as through learning, socialization, or identification.
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to make subjective or give a subjective character to.
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Linguistics. to acquire (a linguistic rule, structure, etc.) as part of one's language competence.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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internalizationnoun
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uninternalizedadjective
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semi-internalizedadjective
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quasi-internalizedadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have internalizedperfect
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has internalizedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been internalizingperfect progressive
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is internalizingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am internalizingprogressive 1st person singular
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are internalizingprogressive
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has been internalizingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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internalizingparticiple
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internalizessingular 3rd person
Past
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had internalizedperfect
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had been internalizingperfect progressive
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internalizedparticiple
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were internalizingprogressive plural
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internalizedsimple
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was internalizingprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of internalize
Explanation
If you feel anger, pain, fear or hurt but never show it, you internalize it — you keep it inside. If you think about the prefix inter- which always indicated something within, you have the meaning of the adjective internalize, "to keep or take something in." It can be used in either a positive or negative way. If you are a debater who internalizes a topic, then you know it inside and out. On the other hand, you're not doing yourself any favors if you internalize your guilt.
Vocabulary lists containing internalize
Selection Vocabulary 1, Unit 1
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The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
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Piecing Me Together
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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.
The result, she said, is that consumers may internalize economic anxiety more intensely than they did during earlier periods of high inflation.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
To predict them accurately, the system has to internalize what coherent thinking looks like.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
“They are unavoidable. You cannot internalize them and let them chip away at your self-worth.”
From MarketWatch • Feb. 28, 2026
“When young voices, and voices from marginalized communities tend to be silenced, sometimes we internalize that and silence ourselves,” Valenzuela said.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026
It’s one thing to carve the Psi symbol into the side of buildings and string up banners over porches, but to actually internalize the message?
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
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.
