polarized

[poh-luh-rahyzd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR polarized ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of or relating to a medium that exhibits polarization.

(of an electric plug or outlet) designed so that the plug and outlet fit together in only one way.

Origin of polarized

First recorded in 1920–25; polarize + -ed²

Related formsnon·po·lar·ized, adjectiveun·po·lar·ized, adjective

polarize

[poh-luh-rahyz]

verb (used with object), po·lar·ized, po·lar·iz·ing.

to cause polarization in.

to divide into sharply opposing factions, political groups, etc.: The controversy has polarized voters into proabortion and antiabortion groups.

to give polarity to.

verb (used without object), po·lar·ized, po·lar·iz·ing.

to become polarized.

Also especially British, po·lar·ise.

Origin of polarize

First recorded in 1805–15; polar + -ize

Related formspo·lar·iz·a·ble, adjectivepo·lar·iz·a·bil·i·ty, nounde·po·lar·ize, verb (used with object), de·po·lar·ized, de·po·lar·iz·ing.non·po·lar·iz·a·ble, adjectivenon·po·lar·iz·ing, adjectivere·po·lar·ize, verb (used with object), re·po·lar·ized, re·po·lar·iz·ing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for polarized

contradictory, contrary, converse, counter, inverse, opposed, opposite, contrasted

Examples from the Web for polarized

Contemporary Examples of polarized

This is not because of bad leaders, or polarized politics, but because of a governing structure that is fatally flawed.
Red Tape Is Strangling Good Samaritans
Philip K. Howard
December 27, 2014
Because they get a little happily ever after that seems to have polarized fans, too.
Joan Allen on ‘The Killing’ Finale and That Mother of a Twist
Kevin Fallon
August 7, 2014
At 55, Burke is a political novice, and in a polarized electorate, that might be a winning formula.
Meet Mary Burke, the Woman Who Could Beat Scott Walker
Eleanor Clift
May 1, 2014
But the failure is another measure of why this Congress is the most polarized, least productive, and least popular on record.
RIP: Obama’s Grand Bargain With the GOP on Entitlements
John Avlon
March 2, 2014
In these polarized times, there are even stricter limits to what any one party can get done on its own.
Obama’s Speech Was Missing Shared Goals for America’s Future
Mark McKinnon
January 29, 2014

Historical Examples of polarized

Not even the Gerns had ever been able to devise a polarized detector screen.
Space Prison
Tom Godwin
It is largely a question of the direction of the polarized flow.
Fantasia of the Unconscious
D. H. Lawrence
And the moon is polarized with the lumbar ganglion, primarily, in man.
Fantasia of the Unconscious
D. H. Lawrence
And the moon particularly, because she is polarized dynamically to this, our own earth.
Fantasia of the Unconscious
D. H. Lawrence
And man is polarized upwards, towards the sun and the day's activity.
Fantasia of the Unconscious
D. H. Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for polarized

polarize

polarise

verb

to acquire or cause to acquire polarity

to acquire or cause to acquire polarizationto polarize light

to cause people to adopt extreme opposing positionsto polarize opinion

Derived Formspolarizable or polarisable, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for polarized

polarize

1811, in optics, from French polariser, coined by French physicist Étienne-Louis Malus (1775-1812) as a term in optics, from Modern Latin polaris "polar" (see polar). Transferred sense of "to accentuate a division in a group or system" is first recorded 1949 in Arthur Koestler. Related: Polarized; polarizing.

polarized in Science

polarize

[pō′lə-rīz′]

To separate or accumulate positive and negative electric charges in two distinct regions. Polarized objects have an electric dipole moment and will undergo torque when placed in an external electric field.

To magnetize a substance so that it has the properties of a magnetic dipole, such as having a north and south pole.

To cause the electrical and magnetic fields associated with electromagnetic waves, especially light, to vibrate in a particular direction or path. The transverse electric and magnetic waves always vibrate at right angles to each other, but in ordinary unpolarized light sources, the direction of polarization of each wave is randomly distributed. Light can be polarized by reflection, and by passing through certain materials. See more at polarization.