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Showing results for popularize. Search instead for populaire.
Synonyms

popularize

American  
[pop-yuh-luh-rahyz] / ˈpɒp yə ləˌraɪz /
especially British, popularise

verb (used with object)

popularized, popularizing
  1. to make popular.

    to popularize a dance.


popularize British  
/ ˈpɒpjʊləˌraɪz /

verb

  1. to make popular; make attractive to the general public

  2. to make or cause to become easily understandable or acceptable

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of popularize

First recorded in 1585–95; popular + -ize

Vocabulary lists containing popularize

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.

While passive, follow-the-index strategies that Vanguard helped popularize have become dominant in stocks, many investors still favor active funds in the more-complex bond markets.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

Japanese pitchers migrating to MLB, including Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, have helped popularize the splitter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Strategy, formerly known as Microstrategy, helped popularize the concept when it started buying large amounts of bitcoin in 2020.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026

Early advertising campaigns helped popularize terms like "litterbug," while today the focus has shifted to "chemical recycling," promoted by industry as a way to break plastics down into their basic building blocks.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

It came about because Kepler wrote one of the first works of science fiction, intended to explain and popularize science.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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