italicize

American  

[ih-tal-uh-sahyz, ahy-tal-] / ɪˈtæl əˌsaɪz, aɪˈtæl- /

especially British, italicise

verb (used with object)

• italicizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• italicized,
  past participle,  past
• italicizing
  present participle

1. to print in italic type.

2. to underscore with a single line, as in indicating italics.

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verb (used without object)

• italicizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• italicized,
  past participle,  past
• italicizing
  present participle

1. to use italics.

italicize British  

/ ɪˈtælɪˌsaɪz /

verb

1. to print (textual matter) in italic type

2. (tr) to underline (letters, words, etc) with a single line to indicate italics

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• italicization
  noun
• unitalicized
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• italicizing
  present
• italicized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• italicize
  simple
• italicizes
  simple
• have italicized
  perfect
• has italicized
  perfect
• am italicizing
  progressive
• are italicizing
  progressive
• is italicizing
  progressive
• have been italicizing
  perfect progressive
• has been italicizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• italicized
  simple
• had italicized
  perfect
• was italicizing
  progressive
• were italicizing
  progressive
• had been italicizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will italicize
  simple
• will have italicized
  perfect
• will be italicizing
  progressive
• will have been italicizing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of italicize

First recorded in 1785–95; italic + -ize

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Explanation

When you italicize your writing, you print or type in the slanted letters called "italics." You can italicize a word in a sentence when you want to emphasize it. People italicize for various reasons: they might italicize the title of a book, or a section of dialogue that's yelled by a character in a story. Print that you italicize usually slopes from left to right, and it resembles script or cursive writing. Italicize and italics come from the Latin word for "Italian," italicus. This print style was named in honor of the Italian printer credited as the first to use it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

italicize italicizes italicized italicizing

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was italicize.

From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2022

She doesn’t italicize the Hindi, affirming the fluidity of language in conversation and thought.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2022

Notes allows you to bold and italicize, too, which I do every once in a while if I’m feeling wild.

From The Verge ● Jan. 17, 2022

Rayne’s production does not italicize the issue, but the show is not indifferent, either.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 28, 2017

The next step is to italicize these words, thus treating them as complete aliens, and thus we often see rôle, dépôt, &c.

From Society for Pure English, Tract 03 (1920) A Few Practical Suggestions by Society for Pure English

In a startlingly modern conception, the negative space of Claudel’s abrupt amputation exposes — and italicizes — the human body’s dense, inescapable physicality.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2024

I am not a lawyer, but it’s my understanding that when a judge capitalizes, italicizes, and bold-faces a word, he really, really means it.

From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2023

That metric underlines, italicizes and bolds McIlroy's steadiness from start to finish in the 2018-'19 season.

From Golf Digest ● Aug. 26, 2019

The writers’ room consistently supplies stilted syntax to suit her imperious delivery, and Jackson reliably italicizes her lines with terrifically witchy gestures.

From The New Yorker ● May 30, 2018

In places where this departure from the MS. has been made, he italicizes the words of his translation.

From The Translations of Beowulf A Critical Bibliography by Chauncey Brewster Tinker

His first major book, “In Our Time,” published a century ago this month, includes 14 short stories and 16 intense italicized single-page interchapters between the stories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

The ensemble recreates the communal energy of the characters, though sometimes what’s italicized in the script might have been more potently conveyed with underplaying.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 21, 2025

I have italicized the words that make this requirement a very low bar.

From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2024

The book opens with a meditation on moss in her apartment, and in each chapter, there’s a parallel journey, a handful of italicized paragraphs that break up the text, typically along with photos.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023

That credit card preapproval, with her name correctly spelled and elegantly italicized, had roused her spirits, made her a little less invisible, a little more present.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Hegarty Lovett lets silence reign, holding moments when something painful has been flippantly acknowledged and sometimes italicizing a line that sums up the heart of Beckett’s uncompromising worldview.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2024

As for your particular problems using LibreOffice, yes, I have seen similar reports of unwelcome issues with the suite’s clipboard and italicizing.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2022

In January, Escárcega announced that the food pages were abandoning the age-old practice of italicizing non-English words.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 26, 2020

Rather it’s a purposefully rousing homage to the ideals of journalistic independence, governmental accountability and gender equality that isn’t averse to underlining, italicizing and boldfacing why those principles are more important than ever.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2017

General Baden- Powell says, italicizing the words: "The secret of getting successful work out of your trained men lies in one nutshell—in the clearness of the instructions they receive."

From The Art of War by Sunzi (6th cent. BC)

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