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
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
Life Is So Good
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Rick
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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.
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
“To philosophize is to learn to die,” observed Montaigne.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2019
I studied philosophy in college and didn’t realize until my senior year that no one would pay me to philosophize when I graduated.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
