philosophize
Americanverb (used without object)
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to speculate or theorize, usually in a superficial or imprecise manner.
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to think or reason as a philosopher.
verb
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(intr) to make philosophical pronouncements and speculations
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(tr) to explain philosophically
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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philosophizationnoun
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philosophizernoun
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overphilosophizeverb (used without object)
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well-philosophizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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philosophizesimple
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philosophizessimple
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have philosophizedperfect
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has philosophizedperfect
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am philosophizingprogressive
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are philosophizingprogressive
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is philosophizingprogressive
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have been philosophizingperfect progressive
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has been philosophizingperfect progressive
Past
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philosophizedsimple
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had philosophizedperfect
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was philosophizingprogressive
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were philosophizingprogressive
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had been philosophizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of philosophize
First recorded in 1585–95; philosoph(y) + -ize
Explanation
To philosophize is to think philosophically or just deeply and reflectively. On a long car trip, after you run out of school gossip, you and your friends might philosophize on the nature of man, or the question "What is beauty?" To philosophize is not exactly the same thing as doing philosophy. Often if we say someone is philosophizing, we are kind of making fun of him, as if all of the sudden he thinks he’s Socrates, but really he’s just parroting Dr. Phil. If you stop driving in the middle of the road to tell your friend a revelation you’ve just had about the nature of suburban society, she might say, “Stop philosophizing and drive!”
Vocabulary lists containing philosophize
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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:
But that proved impossible, given the bench’s outdoor life, where it was used as a jungle gym for neighborhood kids, or a couch for friends to sit and philosophize about this piece of movie history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
After Hal and Josie’s meet-cute, they see sights blandly, philosophize blandly, blandly tiptoe around the notion of romance, and criticize each other — yes, blandly, but with an occasional touch of “salty” language.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2022
His writing, she added, made people “free to philosophize in a way that, to paraphrase Mills’ first intellectual hero Marx, seeks not merely to describe the world, but to transform it.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2021
Socrates loved to stroll and philosophize, and Aristotle taught his classes while he walked up and down the walkways of the Lyceum.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2021
Why in the world would she philosophize about the finish line?
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
A character philosophizes on the dizzying pace of change in the late 19th century: “We’ve no say as to the pace of modernity’s advance. I myself am merely its vessel, a humble foot soldier …”
From Salon ● May 31, 2019
To be a good traveler, he philosophizes, one should “put yourself, as a predestinarian might say, calmly into the dice-box of small events, and be shaken out whenever circumstance may ordain.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2018
“America,” Wednesday philosophizes from the passenger seat, “is the only country in the world that wonders what it is.”
From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2017
“We that are young shall never see so much,” Edgar philosophizes as the play comes to a close, its devastation complete.
From New York Times ● Jul. 17, 2011
One of the peculiarities of this tragedy, is the introduction of a character, who takes no part in the action, but observes and philosophizes upon it, somewhat after the manner of the old Greek chorus.
From The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 3, February, 1851 by Various
"To be a ketchup enthusiast and say tomatoes are trash would be like saying you like peanut butter but hate peanuts," yet another user philosophized.
From Fox News ● Mar. 21, 2022
Poland President Andrzej Duda said he was humbled by the virus and philosophized about global recovery.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2021
Internet-connected photography, he philosophized, necessitated a “a reinvention of the camera.”
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2017
As the G20 summit ended, Mr. Obama philosophized, “I think we all have to recognize these are turbulent times. A lot of countries are seeing volatile politics.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 5, 2016
Samuel may have thought and played and philosophized about death, but he did not really believe in it.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Right before his 19th birthday, Rosenzweig wrote in his diary: “You believe you are philosophizing but you are only writing your own biography.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
He soon found out that there are millions of people in this country who are not impressed with his adolescent philosophizing.
From Salon ● May 21, 2025
What’s most troubling about this witless mishmash of whiny, infantile philosophizing and bone-crunching violence is the increasing realization that it actually thinks it’s saying something of significance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2023
What stands out is his lack of philosophizing or waxing poetic.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2023
Burnet’s argument was met with widespread horror; as Herbert Croft, the bishop of Hereford, put it, ‘This way of philosophizing all from natural causes, I fear, will make the whole world turn scoffers.’
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
