polarized

[ poh-luh-rahyzd ]

adjective

1. of or relating to a medium that exhibits polarization.
2. (of an electric plug or outlet) designed so that the plug and outlet fit together in only one way.

Other Words From

• non·polar·ized adjective
• un·polar·ized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of polarized¹

First recorded in 1920–25; polarize + -ed ²

Example Sentences

Now, standing or not standing for the anthem has become one of the polarizing issues in our polarized country.

From Washington Post

The concern is much larger if the selection of which platforms people are using in the first place is itself more polarized.

From ProPublica

The aim is to stay neutral with ads that take place in a pre-politically polarized world that exists sans-Covid.

From Digiday

Almost all legislation requires 60 votes to be filibuster-proof, meaning the GOP has the numbers to make some Democratic priorities dead on arrival in a highly polarized Congress.

From Vox

In a polarized nation, experts say that’s unlikely to change.

From Washington Post

This is not because of bad leaders, or polarized politics, but because of a governing structure that is fatally flawed.

From The Daily Beast

Well, the two parties in Congress are more ideologically and geographically polarized than at any time in our recent history.

From The Daily Beast

And just as everyone seems to be becoming more sensitive, so are they becoming more polarized.

From The Daily Beast

Because they get a little happily ever after that seems to have polarized fans, too.

From The Daily Beast

We are now more polarized and more divided along racial lines than the day you took office.

From The Daily Beast

Not even the Gerns had ever been able to devise a polarized detector screen.

From Project Gutenberg

In that circuit, at the other end, there is a precisely similar little insulated coil, upon a precisely similar polarized magnet.

From Project Gutenberg

This is held only around its edge, and its center is free to vibrate toward and from the end of this polarized magnet.

From Project Gutenberg

Across the opposite end of this polarized magnet, crosswise to it, and very close, there is placed a diaphragm of thin sheet iron.

From Project Gutenberg

Zonal structure is characteristic, being noticeable even without the use of polarized light.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• contradictory