prioritize

American  

[prahy-awr-i-tahyz, -or-] / praɪˈɔr ɪˌtaɪz, -ˈɒr- /

especially British, prioritise

verb (used with object)

• prioritizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• prioritized,
  past participle,  past
• prioritizing
  present participle

1. 

   to arrange or do in order of priority.

   learning to prioritize our assignments.

2. to give a high priority to.

---

verb (used without object)

• prioritizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• prioritized,
  past participle,  past
• prioritizing
  present participle

1. to organize or deal with something according to its priority.

prioritize British  

/ praɪˈɒrɪˌtaɪz /

verb

1. to arrange (items to be attended to) in order of their relative importance

2. to give priority to or establish as a priority

---

Spelling

See -ize.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prioritization
  noun
• reprioritization
  noun
• reprioritize
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• prioritizing
  present
• prioritized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• prioritize
  simple
• prioritizes
  simple
• have prioritized
  perfect
• has prioritized
  perfect
• am prioritizing
  progressive
• are prioritizing
  progressive
• is prioritizing
  progressive
• have been prioritizing
  perfect progressive
• has been prioritizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• prioritized
  simple
• had prioritized
  perfect
• was prioritizing
  progressive
• were prioritizing
  progressive
• had been prioritizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will prioritize
  simple
• will have prioritized
  perfect
• will be prioritizing
  progressive
• will have been prioritizing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of prioritize

First recorded in 1965–70; priorit(y) + -ize

Explanation

Prioritize means to rank in order of importance. There are so many great clubs and activities to get involved in––you should be sure to prioritize the ones you like, or you'll get burned out. Prioritize can also mean to set something at the top of a ranking system. By prioritizing healthy eating and exercise, you can lose weight and stay in shape. In the same way, when something is a priority, it usually means it has a high priority, or as some like to say, "priority number one."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prioritize prioritizes prioritized prioritizing

OpenAI, Anthropic and other major AI developers have promised to prioritize making models that have safety guardrails to mitigate risks and that are also aligned with human values.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

Lam acknowledged that every administration has the leeway to decide what crimes to prioritize.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

Larger AI models and the data-intensive process of inference, or when AI models make predictions based on learned patterns, however, “increasingly prioritize density, performance, endurance and supply certainty over the lowest absolute price,” Cassidy said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

"Across several kinds of brain cells, this paired view revealed a consistent signature of 3D genome reorganization in Alzheimer's disease and helped us prioritize regulatory regions for future mechanistic and therapeutic investigation."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

We decided to prioritize resentencing hearings in Louisiana for the “old-timers,” juvenile lifers who had been there for decades.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

The utility prioritizes replacement projects based on a variety of factors including the age of the line, leak history and the consequences of failure in a particular area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

“While direct-to-consumer platforms have increased patient access to GLP-1 receptor agonists, these findings suggest that some do so through impersonal care that prioritizes quick prescriptions over comprehensive care,” the researchers wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

The idea was to embed prevention specialists within targeting teams and foster a culture that prioritizes civilian security in accordance with U.S. law and international rules of war.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

"But this work demonstrates that recycling can work when society prioritizes sustainability."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026

The negativity could actually be a boon for Apple, which has long marketed itself as a company that prioritizes user privacy and safety.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

Scrolls found to contain lead could then be prioritized for CT scanning, potentially allowing many more texts to be recovered and building on the work of Seales and his collaborators.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Turkey prioritized diplomacy while helping largely on “technical issues.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Officials also changed how patients experiencing ectopic pregnancy symptoms are prioritized when they call for an ambulance, leading to faster response times.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

But my job, what I prioritized, is keeping it light.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

For the first time at Duke, I prioritized my personal happiness.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Has your group been starved for funding for some time, a sign executives are prioritizing other departments?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

Here’s the short version: Tradwives promote a traditional model of family life, prioritizing being a homemaker and a primary caregiver and supporting their husbands’ role as the primary breadwinner.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

More refineries in the Middle East and in Russia are offline and China is increasingly prioritizing its domestic fuel market and has cut down on demand for crude, Smith said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Organizers are open about prioritizing Metro and cycling as preferred ways to arrive.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Her brother talking about prioritizing his own interests over hers wasn’t that different from her prioritizing Mr. Griswold’s game over the cipher challenge.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Related Words

• order
• rank
• sequence