militarize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to equip with armed forces, military supplies, or the like.
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to make military.
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to imbue with militarism.
verb
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to convert to military use
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to imbue with militarism
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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militarizationnoun
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remilitarizationnoun
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remilitarizeverb (used with object)
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unmilitarizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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militarizesimple
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militarizessimple
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have militarizedperfect
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has militarizedperfect
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am militarizingprogressive
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are militarizingprogressive
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is militarizingprogressive
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have been militarizingperfect progressive
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has been militarizingperfect progressive
Past
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militarizedsimple
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had militarizedperfect
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was militarizingprogressive
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were militarizingprogressive
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had been militarizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of militarize
First recorded in 1875–80; militar(y) + -ize
Explanation
To make something (or someone) more heavily armed with weapons, especially in preparation for battle, is to militarize it. If a country militarizes, it's preparing for war or violent conflict. A nation that is militarizing might assemble and train various armed forces (like the Army and the Navy), ready tanks to defend an area, or send ships to sail into battle. When you militarize a police force, it starts to look more like an army. And if a company militarizes its personal security force, that may mean arming guards with guns and dressing them in bulletproof vests. The verb militarize comes from military and its Latin root miles, "soldier."
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:
As a result, it is unclear how the U.S. or the International Atomic Energy Agency would verify that the Saudis don’t militarize their program.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
Offering them benefits and talks has had a perverse effect, Jaramillo said, prompting them to militarize to negotiate from a position of strength.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
“We call on the Polish side not to escalate the situation and not use it to militarize the border area,” Glaz said.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
We should also be wary of governments pushing to militarize AI.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 27, 2023
Starting from this and with the methods and experiences attached to it, it was possible also for other countries, if necessary, to mechanize their politics or, as we say now, to militarize them.
From The New Society by Windham, Arthur
These programs represent a new and controversial approach to leveraging the natural world—one that, in essence, militarizes the environment.
From Slate ● May 3, 2017
The war meme also transforms societies, militarizes them, in ways that make war more likely.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 18, 2013
Small trench networks are visible at intersections on approaches to the city, indicating the area is militarized, but these have also been in place for many months.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
These tableaus take place against the backdrop of an increasingly militarized vision of Christmas that permeates American pop culture.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
The story is rudimentary: Elongated blue cat people prepare for a gigantic battle with the nasty, militarized, heartless, corporation-backed human colonists, or “sky people.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
The sleepy town is under a militarized quarantine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025
On the projection screen was the faded-color image of a short man in a militarized black jumpsuit and huge, blue suede platforms.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
He denied that China was militarizing the disputed South China Sea, while asserting its maritime claims there.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2023
Their default is to frame the UAP matter in terms of security—a view the media often reinforces— thus militarizing the issue.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 2, 2023
He was my jichan, my grandfather, who immigrated to the United States in 1908 to flee a militarizing Japan and earn money for his family near Mt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
These developments altered the nature of society in Africa, militarizing states and reorienting African trade.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Nor does preparation mean a policy of militarizing.
From State of the Union Address by Coolidge, Calvin
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.
