galvanize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to stimulate to action; excite; startle
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to cover (iron, steel, etc) with a protective zinc coating by dipping into molten zinc or by electrodeposition
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to stimulate by application of an electric current
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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galvanizationnoun
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galvanizernoun
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regalvanizationnoun
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pregalvanizeverb (used with object)
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regalvanizeverb (used with object)
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nongalvanizedadjective
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ungalvanizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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galvanizesimple
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galvanizessimple
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have galvanizedperfect
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has galvanizedperfect
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am galvanizingprogressive
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are galvanizingprogressive
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is galvanizingprogressive
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have been galvanizingperfect progressive
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has been galvanizingperfect progressive
Past
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galvanizedsimple
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had galvanizedperfect
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was galvanizingprogressive
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were galvanizingprogressive
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had been galvanizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of galvanize
First recorded in 1795–1805; from French galvaniser, named after Luigi Galvani; see -ize
Explanation
The verb galvanize means to stimulate or incite someone into taking action. Your impassioned speech might galvanize the other members of the Ecology Club to start a school-wide recycling initiative. The word galvanize initially meant "to stimulate muscles by administering electric shocks." It was coined to honor the 18th-century scientist Luigi Galvani, who found that a spark could make a frog's legs move. This discovery of "animal electricity" inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, (a novel in which a mad scientist attempts to use electricity to galvanize a monster to life). Galvanize also means to cover steel or iron with zinc so it doesn’t rust.
Vocabulary lists containing galvanize
This Week in Words: September 15 - 21, 2018
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This Week in Words: March 10 - 16, 2018
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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:
It was also likely a means to galvanize himself against how that experience alerted him to the omnipresent nearness of death.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
She later ran for school board and won in November, eager to galvanize change.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
"We hope that this study will galvanize efforts to have yeast on board in future space explorations."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 8, 2026
Five years since 17-year-old Darnella Frazier stood on the curb outside Cup Foods, raised her phone, and bore witness to nine minutes and 29 seconds that would galvanize a global movement against racial inequality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025
Ann quickly found a focus for her housing work that fall, in two incidents that would galvanize the black community in Durham over the next few years.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
It just sort of galvanizes and I'm seeing all of that now.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025
These dynamics are very different from other evolutionary systems where inter-group conflict galvanizes cooperative responses -- the nested and sequential nature of the evolution of natural resource governance systems causes the difference.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024
Such evidence of depravity typically galvanizes global action and demands for justice.
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2023
Whether the televised kiss galvanizes a lasting movement against harassment and discrimination is yet to be seen.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
Seeing the paper chain in danger galvanizes them into action.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
The Liuzzo family was harassed for their mother’s activism even after her death, but the event galvanized activists all over the country, becoming one impetus for Congress to finally pass the landmark 1965 legislation.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Platner galvanized an enthusiastic base of supporters and weathered months of controversies surrounding his personal life by selling a story of redemption and what he called “healthy” masculinity.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
They were there when the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill blackened beaches, turned the shoreline into a wildlife graveyard, and galvanized grassroots defense of the coast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
"In the winter time, when the weather's bad, that's kind of when we thrive... We're open 365 days a year," said Matuszewski, who described how the World Cup had galvanized interest in soccer.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
They weren’t jaded, and now they’d been galvanized and united.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
The portrait—often known as “Whipped Peter”—became a lightning rod for the Abolitionist cause, galvanizing many Northerners who had yet to see the effects of slavery firsthand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
She said the peaceful demonstrations since the start of the sprawling immigration raids were a strength of the movement galvanizing against the raids.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
“North” was a galvanizing book for its bog poems as well as sequences such as “Singing School” and “Whatever You Say Say Nothing”:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
McConnell described the galvanizing effect the threats have had on him during Thursday’s edition of the nonpartisan Speak Up for Justice forum, a grassroots effort to advocate for judicial independence and judges’ safety.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2025
The effect was galvanizing: his muddied half-chewed tail stirred and he raised his shoulders, then his forelegs, with a convulsive effort, like an old work horse getting up after a fall.
From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford
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.
