radicalize

[rad-i-kuh-lahyz]

verb (used with object), rad·i·cal·ized, rad·i·cal·iz·ing.

to make radical or more radical, as in politics: young people who are being radicalized by extremist philosophies.

verb (used without object), rad·i·cal·ized, rad·i·cal·iz·ing.

to become radical or more radical: The regime has increasingly radicalized since the coup.

Also especially British, rad·i·cal·ise.

Origin of radicalize

First recorded in 1815–20; radical + -ize

Related formsrad·i·cal·i·za·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for radicalize

Contemporary Examples of radicalize

What seems to have upset him the most was watching Alessa and Almonte radicalize a local teenager he calls “a regular street kid.”
NYPD on the Real ‘Enemies Within’: Going Undercover With Jihadis
Michael Daly
September 9, 2013
“This is scary; brutal methods will radicalize a larger number of women,” Sokirianskaya said.
Russia’s Female Menaces
Anna Nemtsova
September 6, 2012
Trying to hold back history and peaceful change may radicalize the situation.
Egypt's President Mubarak Plays With Fire
Bruce Riedel
February 10, 2011
American universities seem to radicalize more middle-class Arabs than did their upbringing in the Middle East.
Maybe We Shouldn't Try KSM
Richard Miniter
March 5, 2010
And some may be pure “lone wolves” who radicalize themselves and carry out their attacks with no outside assistance or support.
Our Homegrown Terror Threat
Michael Chertoff
January 1, 2010

British Dictionary definitions for radicalize

radicalize

radicalise

verb (tr)

to make (a person) more radical

Derived Formsradicalization or radicalisation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for radicalize

1820, from radical (adj.) + -ize. Related: Radicalized; radicalizing.