psychologize

American  

[sahy-kol-uh-jahyz] / saɪˈkɒl əˌdʒaɪz /

especially British, psychologise

verb (used without object)

psychologized, psychologizing

1. to make psychological investigations or speculations, especially those that are naive or uninformed.

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psychologize British  

/ saɪˈkɒləˌdʒaɪz /

verb

1. to make interpretations of behaviour and mental processes

2. to carry out investigation in the field of psychology

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Other Word Forms

• overpsychologize
  verb
• psychologizer
  noun

Etymology

Origin of psychologize

First recorded in 1820–30; psycholog(y) + -ize

Example Sentences

Whether fake-wrestling or barhopping with women or trying to psychologize each other, neither guy really knows what’s fun or illuminating anymore.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2025

He oozes capability, of the mental and physical sorts, and though he has a tragic backstory he doesn’t seem particularly marked by it, as much as other characters might want to psychologize him.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2024

He developed psychological behaviorism, which included elements such as emotion and personality, to “behaviorize psychology and to psychologize behaviorism,” as his view is often explained.

From Washington Post • Jun. 4, 2021

That’s one way to think about it, the cynical, uncharitable, myopic way, the way you’d think about it if you wanted to psychologize Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable.

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2018

She had little power to psychologize concerning social conditions, but the stalwart constructive persistence of Cowperwood along commercial lines coupled with the current American contempt of leisure reflected somewhat unfavorably upon Lynde, she thought.

From The Titan by Dreiser, Theodore