randomize

American  

[ran-duh-mahyz] / ˈræn dəˌmaɪz /

especially British, randomise

verb (used with object)

randomizes, present (3rd person singular) randomized, past participle, past randomizing present participle

1. to order or select in a random manner, as in a sample or experiment, especially in order to reduce bias and interference caused by irrelevant variables; make random.

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randomize British  

/ ˈrændəˌmaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to set up (a selection process, sample, etc) in a deliberately random way in order to enhance the statistical validity of any results obtained

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• randomization
  noun
• randomizer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• randomizing
  present
• randomized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• randomize
  simple
• randomizes
  simple
• have randomized
  perfect
• has randomized
  perfect
• am randomizing
  progressive
• are randomizing
  progressive
• is randomizing
  progressive
• have been randomizing
  perfect progressive
• has been randomizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• randomized
  simple
• had randomized
  perfect
• was randomizing
  progressive
• were randomizing
  progressive
• had been randomizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will randomize
  simple
• will have randomized
  perfect
• will be randomizing
  progressive
• will have been randomizing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of randomize

First recorded in 1925–30; random + -ize

Explanation

To randomize is to arrange something in an irregular or haphazard order. If your math teacher randomizes the questions on a quiz, each student will get a different set of problems to solve, in a different order. If you disorder any group so that it is random, and you randomize it. The way to randomize the cards in a deck is to shuffle it well; each card in the deck is in its place by pure chance. And if you want to randomize your book collection, just put the books on the shelf anywhere, rather than in alphabetical order or grouped by subject.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

randomize randomizes randomized randomizing

Now, we’ll randomize the kicker’s run-up to the ball using different body language.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

All the research on whether fluoride in water is associated with IQ is observational, because you can’t really randomize people to drink fluoridated water, at least over any kind of span of time.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2025

This study did not randomize participants, and people knew which group they had been placed in.

From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2024

Now, the lottery is held online from Feb. 15 to March 1, using a digital system to randomize and choose winners.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2023

You might be able to take one single bit of data out that way, but to jerk out a whole body of knowledge like this would completely randomize his circuits.

From Unwise Child by Garrett, Randall

Instead, "Kaleidoscope" is a nonlinear series that randomizes the order the episodes play for each viewer, meaning they may to watch in a different order from their friend.

From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2022

The bot I really like right now is called @streetsandsheets, which takes the phrase "I'm a _____ on the streets and a ____ in the streets" and randomizes the words to fill in the sentence.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 4, 2014

Back in 2005, researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 46 patients with ulcerative colitis.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

In a randomized controlled trial of 15 male soccer players, a heading task was associated with changes in brain chemistry and function, plus elevations in biomarkers linked to brain-tissue injury.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

But Dr. Prasad demanded a randomized controlled trial with a placebo group undergoing sham brain surgery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

Those peptides largely haven’t been studied in randomized clinical trials in humans.

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

The security bots continue their randomized rotations; some of the assets being used to guard this auction now drift off to patrol another one that has just started.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

The researchers recommend that carmakers try randomizing a radar system's operating parameters over time and adding safeguards to the processing algorithms to spot similar attacks.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2024

Those studies require randomizing patients to either receive plasma or a dummy infusion.

From Fox News ● Aug. 26, 2020

Google began randomizing Assistant’s presentation like this last year, and on Google Nest and Home devices in the US, it’s already randomized the default voice.

From The Verge ● Sep. 18, 2019

With our culture has randomizing and splintering by the second, the question thus becomes: Is it even be possible for Seinfeld to exist in 2017 AD?

From Golf Digest ● Sep. 22, 2017

As of 2010, randomizing racial residential patterns in major metropolitan areas would require 47 percent of African Americans to move.

From Washington Post ● May 25, 2017