privatization
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Explanation
When something is owned by the government — like a healthcare system, for example — and its ownership becomes privately held, it's called privatization. If your governor had a plan to replace all the public schools in the state with private schools, you could describe it as privatization. People tend to have strong opinions about privatization, believing either that free enterprise and private companies increase efficiency, or that certain services are harmed by privatization, particularly education, healthcare, and law enforcement. At the heart of privatization is the word private, rooted in the Latin privatus, "belonging to the self rather than the state."
Vocabulary lists containing privatization
Just Mercy
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Eastern Europe - Middle School and High School
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The Top 20 Relevant Words from the Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate, Dec. 19, 2015
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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:
The McCoys settled in Imperial Beach in the early 1970s — Mike was a veterinarian, Patricia a teacher — when the coastal protection movement was spreading across the state amid fears of overdevelopment and privatization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
What does this mean for the eventual privatization of Fannie and Freddie?—the market is responding as if it might happen.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
“We think shares are fairly valued, but a share buyback resumption from the second half of 2026, after the completion of the Hang Seng Bank privatization, should support the share price,” Chan says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
That would avoid the market disruption of full privatization, they said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025
This possible growth depends on a number of factors we cannot control, including crime rates and sentencing patterns in various jurisdictions and acceptance of privatization.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Niklas Zennström, the billionaire founder of internet-telecommunications pioneer Skype, said the privatizations helped fuel innovation in sectors like telecoms, which have underpinned the country’s tech boom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
It also pointed out that past privatizations of communist-era companies brought investment and raised the technical level of Polish enterprises.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 11, 2023
"Of bonds that arise from the debt restructuring, some could be eligible for a swap of debt for investment in a program of privatizations that includes the oil sector," said Levy.
From Reuters ● Jul. 18, 2023
That profile makes Mr. Prigozhin quite different from other Russian oligarchs who made their fortunes through Russian state privatizations in the 1990s, experts say.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2022
Long-awaited privatizations in aviation, energy, and telecommunications are scheduled for 1998.
From The 1998 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency
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.
