popularize

[pop-yuh-luh-rahyz]

See more synonyms for popularize on Thesaurus.com

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

to make popular: to popularize a dance.

Also especially British, pop·u·lar·ise.

Origin of popularize

First recorded in 1585–95; popular + -ize

Related formspop·u·lar·i·za·tion, nounpop·u·lar·iz·er, nounan·ti·pop·u·lar·i·za·tion, adjective, nounde·pop·u·lar·ize, verb (used with object), de·pop·u·lar·ized, de·pop·u·lar·iz·ing.re·pop·u·lar·i·za·tion, nounre·pop·u·lar·ize, verb (used with object), re·pop·u·lar·ized, re·pop·u·lar·iz·ing.sem·i·pop·u·lar·ized, adjectiveun·pop·u·lar·ized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for popularize

simplify, promote, revive, disseminate, restore, familiarize, universalize, resurrect, spread, generalize

Examples from the Web for popularize

Contemporary Examples of popularize

During that time, his efforts to popularize it did not make him any friends.
How to Save a Million Lives
Joshua Robinson
October 13, 2010

Historical Examples of popularize

But vain to popularize profundities, and all truth is profound.
Moby Dick; or The Whale
Herman Melville
For who would undertake to popularize what is not novel or striking?
At the Deathbed of Darwinism
Eberhard Dennert
Happily, there are scientific men who popularize their knowledge.
Historical Essays
James Ford Rhodes
It is said that Scott was one of the first to popularize the planting spirit.
Abbotsford
Anonymous
For his main object was to popularize the views which he put forward.
History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3
Henry Thomas Buckle

British Dictionary definitions for popularize

popularize

popularise

verb (tr)

to make popular; make attractive to the general public
to make or cause to become easily understandable or acceptable

Derived Formspopularization or popularisation, nounpopularizer or populariser, noun

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 popularize

"to make a complex topic intelligible to the people," 1833, from popular + -ize. Earlier "to cater to popular taste" (1590s); "to make popular" (1797). Related: Popularized; popularizing.