professionalize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of professionalize
First recorded in 1855–60; professional + -ize
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:
Investors and stars like MrBeast are looking to professionalize a practice that has run into issues regarding transparency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Harfuch "sought to professionalize, to modernize the intelligence agency to go after crimes," said Gerardo Rodriguez, an academic expert in national security who met Harfuch in 2018.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
One of the efforts to professionalize the process is ICEList, a web database created by Dominick Skinner, an Irish activist based in the Netherlands.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2026
The city has for years sought to professionalize the ranks of interventionists, providing new oversight and training.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2024
Shawn wanted to professionalize the operation, to invest the profits from the Malad job in new equipment; Dad wanted things to stay the same.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
As U.S. foreign policy became more professionalized, some historians have argued, the role of overseeing and executing it became a better fit for capable administrators than aspiring presidents.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
Indiana’s rise has happened as college football’s gone sideways, shedding its phony amateurism for something professionalized and completely amok.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
Iberdrola, an electric utility giant, and others stepped up with generous corporate support, a $10-million media-rights package was signed and the country’s women’s league was professionalized.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
Hughes points out that some Twitter alternatives like Bluesky have revived that sense of joy some remember from Twitter in its days before professionalized trolling.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2023
It was not at all certain, then, how he would fare against the younger breed of highly professionalized butlers looking for posts.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Backers, including venture capital investors and the YouTube star MrBeast, are now aiming to cash in by professionalizing the strategy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
In the seventeenth century, as its enemies grew stronger, the empire became more inward-looking, focusing less on external expansion and more on resolving domestic affairs, professionalizing its bureaucracy, and conducting internal reforms.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
It's not that love is not an important ingredient, but you can't manufacture love, and you should start with professionalizing the work.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2022
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 803, the Peer Support Specialist Certification Program Act, which is the first step to professionalizing the work of peer support specialists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2021
In 1996, the government focused its attention on implementing an ambitious economic reform program and professionalizing its parliament.
From The 1999 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.
