internalize

American  

[in-tur-nl-ahyz] / ɪnˈtɜr nlˌaɪz /

especially British, internalise

verb (used with object)

• internalizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• internalized,
  past participle,  past
• internalizing
  present participle

1. to incorporate (the cultural values, mores, motives, etc., of another or of a group), as through learning, socialization, or identification.

2. to make subjective or give a subjective character to.

3. Linguistics. to acquire (a linguistic rule, structure, etc.) as part of one's language competence.

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internalize British  

/ ɪnˈtɜːnəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. Also: interiorize. (tr) psychol sociol to make internal, esp to incorporate within oneself (values, attitudes, etc) through learning or socialization Compare introject

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• internalization
  noun
• quasi-internalized
  adjective
• semi-internalized
  adjective
• uninternalized
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• internalizing
  present
• internalized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• internalize
  simple
• internalizes
  simple
• have internalized
  perfect
• has internalized
  perfect
• am internalizing
  progressive
• are internalizing
  progressive
• is internalizing
  progressive
• have been internalizing
  perfect progressive
• has been internalizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• internalized
  simple
• had internalized
  perfect
• was internalizing
  progressive
• were internalizing
  progressive
• had been internalizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will internalize
  simple
• will have internalized
  perfect
• will be internalizing
  progressive
• will have been internalizing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of internalize

First recorded in 1940–45; internal + -ize

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

internalize internalizes internalized internalizing

And be sure that you “fully internalize and can speak to” the words you’re sending, she says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

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

“They are unavoidable. You cannot internalize them and let them chip away at your self-worth.”

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026

But other industry players distanced themselves from BP rather than internalize the lessons.

From Slate ● Jan. 14, 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

Guided by previous research of spider brains, the scientists uncovered evidence of a "waste canal system" in the human brain that internalizes waste from healthy neurons.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2024

Jean-Baptiste plays a woman who doles out misery and also, crucially, internalizes it, giving the character a humanity and sadness that’s absolutely transcendent.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

Some advocates do argue for pricing food at a level that internalizes its hidden costs.

From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2024

He only internalizes the doubt enough to let it fire him up.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

So in his family of origin man internalizes ideas of "right-wrong," "appropriate-inappropriate," "expected-unexpected."

From Humanistic Nursing by Josephine G. Paterson

"Rigid and persistent symptoms, such as paranoid ideas or an internalized critical voice, may be stable but not very flexible prediction models," says Stänicke.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026

This movie’s nail-biting, sorrowful power comes from what internalized destruction looks like.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

Once that rule is internalized, it spreads and becomes the new norm.

From Salon ● May 31, 2026

I internalized my mother’s distress, experiencing her anxiety as my own.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026

It lacked the lyrical eloquence and the floating optimism of the Jeffersonian version because it was grounded in the palpable sense of contingency Adams had internalized over his long career.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

“It ignored the young patients who would be in her clinic, exposed to her speech, and susceptible to internalizing ideas that may scar them for life,” they wrote.

From Slate ● Apr. 9, 2026

Europe is moving toward internalizing security costs and building fiscal capacity.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026

“For Nvidia, the long-term risk isn’t just rival chips, but key customers like Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and others steadily internalizing more of the value chain,” Dalfovo said.

From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025

But Bill is like Douglas Fairbanks — he’s got this panache and this love of life, and he’s out there, so my dad could really focus on internalizing his character.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2024

The song B-I-N-G-O is an excellent example in which to practice internalizing the pitch since the singer has to clap the rhythm and silently think the pitch in their head.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

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