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.

---

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

---

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

Etymology

Origin of italicize

First recorded in 1785–95; italic + -ize

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

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

Occasionally, he had to push back against publishers who wanted to italicize or Anglicize Swahili and Arabic references and phrases in his books, he said.

From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2021

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

From Washington Post ● Sep. 28, 2017

It is very singular that they, in their account of the brush, should italicize the word wooden, as much as to say we had an iron-clad.

From Reminiscences of Two Years in the United States Navy by John M. (John Mullin) Batten

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

And when he prints it, in England, France, Germany, and Italy, he italicizes it, puts some whooping exclamation-points after it, and sometimes explains it in a parenthesis.

From How to Tell a Story and Other Essays by Mark Twain

The website for Oura, maker of the smart ring that tracks your heart rate, movement and other health metrics, features screenshots of its app interspersed with reassuring reminders in italicized serif.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025

It had a blue cover, she said, and was unmarked except for “cuaderno de trabajo” written in the italicized superscript taught in elementary schools around Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2024

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

From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2024

From 1997 to 2000, Maryland wore black helmets with an italicized red “M” and the state flag.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2023

The italicized language in the description of the referenced text exchange is paraphrased, not directly quoted.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

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

“I’m lean,” she replies, her wry expression italicizing the word, and for a fleeting instant our sense of Jolie the movie star works with our sense of the character, not against it.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2021

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

Mrs. Spragg, when she found herself embarked on a long sentence, always ballasted it by italicizing the last word.

From The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton