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:
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
Running one of the most important, influential venues in the nation, she also helped professionalize the concert business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
There’s also a movement to professionalize the field of animal-assisted therapy and ensure the animals involved are treated in a safe and ethical manner.
From Seattle Times ● May 4, 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
But as we round the first corner, almost all of the exhibits are the work of amateurs, conscripted from civilian life and professionalized into name, rank and number.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
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
So by the time they launched their foundation in 1966 — and even more by the time they professionalized it in 1977 — they were pretty experienced philanthropists.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 18, 2023
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
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
Their job satisfaction worries me, even as I’m encouraged by how steadily the field is professionalizing.
From Salon ● Jan. 5, 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
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
Irrespective of the professionalizing of philosophy, the ideas philosophers discuss are still those in which Western civilization has been bred.
From Creative Intelligence Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude by Bode, Boyd H.
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.
