personalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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personalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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personalized,
past participle, past
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personalizing
present participle
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to have marked with one's initials, name, or monogram.
to personalize stationery.
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to make personal, as by applying a general statement to oneself.
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to ascribe personal qualities to; personify.
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to design or tailor to meet an individual's specifications, needs, or preferences.
a personalized search engine;
personalized learning.
verb
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to endow with personal or individual qualities or characteristics
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to mark (stationery, clothing, etc) with a person's initials, name, etc
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to take (a remark, etc) personally
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another word for personify
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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personalizesimple
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personalizessimple
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have personalizedperfect
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has personalizedperfect
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am personalizingprogressive
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are personalizingprogressive
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is personalizingprogressive
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have been personalizingperfect progressive
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has been personalizingperfect progressive
Past
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personalizedsimple
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had personalizedperfect
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was personalizingprogressive
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were personalizingprogressive
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had been personalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of personalize
Explanation
To personalize is to design something (or change it) so it's distinctly suited for one specific individual. You can personalize your locker by taping up family photos, or personalize your water bottle by writing your name on it in permanent marker. The verb personalize is often used to mean "make to meet your specific requirements," so a hotel might personalize your visit by leaving a note with chocolates on your pillow, or a barista might personalize your latte with a design on top that's specially made for you. You can also personalize things by putting a person's name or initials on them: "I bought letter patches so we can personalize our backpacks."
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:
The Deutsche Bank analysts said Netflix could also use AI to personalize users’ interactions with the platform and make advertising more targeted and precise.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
"We probably need to personalize protein recommendations based not just on age, but also on how physically active people are."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026
The company said it does not engage in surveillance pricing, nor does it personalize fares for individual customers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
“By stripping out the ability to personalize or target them, you’re not really saving discounts at all,” Drew Ambrogi, a policy manager at Chamber of Progress, said in an interview with Salon.
From Salon ● May 18, 2026
And we all know how successful Strunk and White were in forbidding to personalize, to contact, and six people.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Your image of the virtual self personalizes your financial journey.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
Cincinnati-based Kroger is testing Google’s shopping agent, which helps customers compare grocery items, personalizes their shopping experience and can handle purchasing, according to Yael Cosset, the company’s chief digital officer and executive vice president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
Laughton effectively embodies and personalizes the deeply felt dialectic between Alex and Jesse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2025
STAHLS’ personalizes two jerseys for each draft pick, including one handed to the player onstage and another that is used as part of his rookie playing card pack.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
For everything that it loves, everything that it pities, love personalizes.
From Tragic Sense Of Life by J. E. Crawford (John Ernest Crawford) Flitch
They developed personalized blood tests designed to show early whether treatment had worked and whether traces of cancer were still circulating in the bloodstream.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
The posts include personalized discount codes, suggesting the creators may receive financial compensation if a purchase is made.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Banks can then deploy tailored retention tactics such as personalized offers or proactive notifications.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
“It makes our networks even better and smarter, our service more personalized, and opens up new business models.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Finally, to complete my ’80s super-vehicle theme, I’d slapped a Ghostbusters logo on each of the DeLorean’s gullwing doors, then added personalized plates that read ECTO-88.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Millions of Americans have tried the drugs, which have revolutionized the way physicians treat weight loss, but personalizing who gets which drugs is still a long way off — if it ever happens.
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
Greetings, writing messages on cups, personalizing the hand off of orders, offering ceramic mugs and glass cups for people ordering drinks to stay, and cleaning the lobby and condiment bar were Starbucks’s top concerns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2025
The findings are a major step in personalizing cancer treatment and inspiring novel therapies that target and inhibit ARID1A and its protein complex.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024
And once you — and I’m personalizing this now, because the film requires this of its audience — once you have these things, what are you willing to disassociate from in order to keep them?
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2023
Grandma had stitched illustrations of my palm print into the dashiki, personalizing it to me.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
