dramatize
Americanverb (used with object)
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dramatizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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dramatized,
past participle, past
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dramatizing
present participle
-
to put into a form suitable for acting on a stage.
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to express or represent vividly, emotionally, or strikingly.
He dramatizes his woes with sobs and sighs.
verb (used without object)
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dramatizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dramatized,
past participle, past
-
dramatizing
present participle
verb
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(tr) to put into dramatic form
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to express or represent (something) in a dramatic or exaggerated way
he dramatizes his illness
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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dramatizernoun
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overdramatizeverb
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dramatizableadjective
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undramatizableadjective
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undramatizedadjective
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well-dramatizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dramatizesimple
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dramatizessimple
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have dramatizedperfect
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has dramatizedperfect
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am dramatizingprogressive
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are dramatizingprogressive
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is dramatizingprogressive
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have been dramatizingperfect progressive
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has been dramatizingperfect progressive
Past
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dramatizedsimple
-
had dramatizedperfect
-
was dramatizingprogressive
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were dramatizingprogressive
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had been dramatizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dramatize
Explanation
To dramatize something is to put it in dramatic form (like a TV show or movie) or make it seem more dramatic, using exaggeration. Anytime you see a movie or TV show about real events, the actors are dramatizing what really happened. If you slipped on the sidewalk and hurt your knee a little but later made it sound like the most tragic event in the history of humanity, you're guilty of dramatizing what happened. To dramatize in that way is to exaggerate and embellish — it's something that we all do occasionally.
Vocabulary lists containing dramatize
March: Book Two
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ize
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-ize, List 2
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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.
See Examples For:
As Frederica observes, the “intrinsic problem in writing about artists” is how to dramatize the “battle with the colors and forms.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
“I write about things that have happened, and I, in a way, dramatize them by putting music to it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2025
The Progress Action Fund video doesn’t just dramatize fear.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2025
But with Bing, whom the filmmakers treat as a genuine co-star worthy of close-ups, contemplation and authentic dog behavior, Watts finds another rich vein of emotion to dramatize with delicacy, humor and intelligent vulnerability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2025
"Because I don't think we ought to dramatize our differences."
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
The novel dramatizes the 1950s New York love affair between a newly arrived Jewish refugee, Ilka Weissnix, and a prominent black intellectual named Carter Bayoux.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
That shaving scene referenced earlier dramatizes why this and other supposedly neutral policies painfully disfavor some people without diving into a medical manual.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2025
The play dramatizes the modern Kafkaesque hell of automated phone systems that make callers wait ungodly amounts of time, to numbing hold music, before speaking to a scripted agent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2024
She was dropped by her publisher and resigned from several boards she served on after “When They See Us,” which dramatizes the events surrounding the trial, debuted.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
It dramatizes sound with unique artistic rhythm and design.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
There was a church on site, although this moment in the film was dramatized.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Here’s what is true and what is dramatized in “Pressure.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Melies ended up as a toy seller in Paris’ Gare Montparnasse train station -- a story that was dramatized in Martin Scorsese’s 2011 film, "Hugo."
From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026
But in 2026, everything can be dramatized until we’re numb to the truth of what we’re seeing.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
A reciprocal relationship between people and clergy is dramatized as the congregation takes an active role in the recitation of the mass.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Major YouTube and TikTok creators—most without any legal background whatsoever—pumped out hundreds of videos dramatizing each step of the trial.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
It is a work of theater, dramatizing feelings, as the earlier Disney staging attempted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
The television creator knows how to pique viewers’ interest, often dramatizing notable people and events.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2026
Why was it important to you to tell this story as a documentary versus dramatizing it?
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2024
When Hale was on the stand, he gestured wildly, dramatizing how the electricity had allegedly jolted his body.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
