optimize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
optimizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
optimized,
past participle, past
-
optimizing
present participle
-
to make as effective, perfect, or useful as possible.
-
to make the best of.
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Computers. to write or rewrite (the instructions in a program) so as to maximize efficiency and speed in retrieval, storage, or execution.
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Mathematics. to determine the maximum or minimum values of (a specified function that is subject to certain constraints).
verb (used without object)
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optimizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
optimized,
past participle, past
-
optimizing
present participle
verb
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(tr) to take the full advantage of
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(tr) to plan or carry out (an economic activity) with maximum efficiency
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(intr) to be optimistic
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(tr) to write or modify (a computer program) to achieve maximum efficiency in storage capacity, time, cost, etc
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(tr) to find the best compromise among several often conflicting requirements, as in engineering design
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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optimizesimple
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optimizessimple
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have optimizedperfect
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has optimizedperfect
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am optimizingprogressive
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are optimizingprogressive
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is optimizingprogressive
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have been optimizingperfect progressive
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has been optimizingperfect progressive
Past
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optimizedsimple
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had optimizedperfect
-
was optimizingprogressive
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were optimizingprogressive
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had been optimizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of optimize
Explanation
Optimize means to make the best possible use of something. If you optimize your home storage capacity, you clean and organize your closets and drawers to be able to fit the most in. Before the advent of the Internet, the word optimize was mostly used to describe the act of being really positive about the world, or being an optimist. But today one can scarcely hear the word without thinking about how to optimize a website or make it as efficient as possible. SEO, standing for "search engine optimization," refers to this process of optimizing a website to make it appear more frequently in web searches.
Vocabulary lists containing optimize
Engineering - Introductory
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Engineering: Defining Problems and Designing Solutions - Introductory
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Mathematical Modeling
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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:
In order to beat defenders, Kelce needed to optimize his speed for every turn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Huberman’s proposition, familiar to his many, many fans, is that “science,” well applied, can help you optimize your meatsuit for the highest possible performance.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
People are going to great lengths to optimize their sleep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
I began gently optimizing my library use the way someone might optimize a coffee-shop punch card.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
The university had a reputation for spawning world-class scientists exploring how to optimize use of technology in airplanes and in the military, in the tradition of Broadbent and Dr. Treisman.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
“We’re really looking for founders who are building where technology personalizes the experience and optimizes the experience but doesn’t replace the experience,” Ferreira said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
He expects Nestlé’s revenue growth to reaccelerate as it optimizes its portfolio around areas like coffee and pet care.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Mattel said the job cuts are part of an effort to save money as the company optimizes for growth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
To Joel Lewenstein, head of product design at Anthropic, AI slop is “generic content, undifferentiated content — something that optimizes for volume and passive consumption over everything else.”
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 29, 2025
Such a structure is generated by the technological implementation of the brain, and it optimizes the activity of the brain in a section of the external reality.
From The Brain, A Decoded Enigma by Dorin Teodor Moisa
AI slop has begun appearing on restaurant menus, signs and advertisements, offering food imagery that looks optimized for appetite without necessarily resembling anything a person could cook.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
In laboratory experiments, optimized combinations of the proteins were about 10 times more potent than the current sheep-derived rattlesnake antivenom.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 8, 2026
Many of the devices being sold are what manufacturers refer to as AI PCs, or computers optimized for on-device AI workloads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
“We’ve made a car that looks like the future, designed and optimized around the passenger” said Ian Kettle, site manager for the Cybercab, on Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The members decided to fund two machines of different sizes, each optimized to produce different particles; the only question left was which lab would build which machine.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The term is less a description of any particular food than a prediction about what happens when the people optimizing a restaurant become increasingly distant from the people cooking in it.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
“If an agent is optimizing 24/7,” Ryan added, “does that remove latent cash in the system?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Eggleston, a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering with expertise in geochemistry, will lead work focused on understanding and optimizing the chemical reactions involved in breaking down and rebuilding silicate materials.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Some are optimizing, trying to produce the best physical performance at the gym or at work.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Twin Cities job market analyst Kristine Jacobs pinpoints what she calls the “money taboo” as a major factor preventing workers from optimizing their earnings.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
