galvanize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to stimulate to action; excite; startle
-
to cover (iron, steel, etc) with a protective zinc coating by dipping into molten zinc or by electrodeposition
-
to stimulate by application of an electric current
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
galvanizationnoun
-
galvanizernoun
-
regalvanizationnoun
-
pregalvanizeverb (used with object)
-
regalvanizeverb (used with object)
-
nongalvanizedadjective
-
ungalvanizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
galvanizesimple
-
galvanizessimple
-
have galvanizedperfect
-
has galvanizedperfect
-
am galvanizingprogressive
-
are galvanizingprogressive
-
is galvanizingprogressive
-
have been galvanizingperfect progressive
-
has been galvanizingperfect progressive
Past
-
galvanizedsimple
-
had galvanizedperfect
-
was galvanizingprogressive
-
were galvanizingprogressive
-
had been galvanizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of galvanize
First recorded in 1795–1805; from French galvaniser, named after Luigi Galvani; see -ize
Explanation
The verb galvanize means to stimulate or incite someone into taking action. Your impassioned speech might galvanize the other members of the Ecology Club to start a school-wide recycling initiative. The word galvanize initially meant "to stimulate muscles by administering electric shocks." It was coined to honor the 18th-century scientist Luigi Galvani, who found that a spark could make a frog's legs move. This discovery of "animal electricity" inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, (a novel in which a mad scientist attempts to use electricity to galvanize a monster to life). Galvanize also means to cover steel or iron with zinc so it doesn’t rust.
Vocabulary lists containing galvanize
This Week in Words: September 15 - 21, 2018
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
100 SAT Words Beginning with "G"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
This Week in Words: March 10 - 16, 2018
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
It was also likely a means to galvanize himself against how that experience alerted him to the omnipresent nearness of death.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026
The violence helped galvanize public support for passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
Even starting a niche, alternative product can help galvanize broader change, said Jiye Son, the founder and chief executive of Anew, noting that a lot of chemical companies also have cosmetic departments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
"We hope that this study will galvanize efforts to have yeast on board in future space explorations."
From Science Daily ● Feb. 8, 2026
Ann quickly found a focus for her housing work that fall, in two incidents that would galvanize the black community in Durham over the next few years.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
It just sort of galvanizes and I'm seeing all of that now.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2025
It galvanizes us to stand up for our rights and advocate for a politics of equity, justice, transparency and solidarity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2024
These dynamics are very different from other evolutionary systems where inter-group conflict galvanizes cooperative responses -- the nested and sequential nature of the evolution of natural resource governance systems causes the difference.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024
Such evidence of depravity typically galvanizes global action and demands for justice.
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2023
Seeing the paper chain in danger galvanizes them into action.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
The Liuzzo family was harassed for their mother’s activism even after her death, but the event galvanized activists all over the country, becoming one impetus for Congress to finally pass the landmark 1965 legislation.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
NEW DELHI—The leaders of India’s “Cockroach” protests said their supporters wouldn’t retreat even after an activist who galvanized the large-scale demonstrations ended a hunger strike on Friday after winning concessions from the government.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Platner galvanized an enthusiastic base of supporters and weathered months of controversies surrounding his personal life by selling a story of redemption and what he called “healthy” masculinity.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
They were there when the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill blackened beaches, turned the shoreline into a wildlife graveyard, and galvanized grassroots defense of the coast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Union leaders John Fitzpatrick and William Z. Foster were galvanized by the golden opportunity for a big union win if they could just bring all the workers together before the bosses divided them.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
But if the movie’s just-so fatalism is less than galvanizing, it’s also soberly convincing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
She died days after the Women’s March, a galvanizing nationwide event attended by many who count her among the forces that awakened their feminism.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
She said the peaceful demonstrations since the start of the sprawling immigration raids were a strength of the movement galvanizing against the raids.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
“North” was a galvanizing book for its bog poems as well as sequences such as “Singing School” and “Whatever You Say Say Nothing”:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
But they had not reckoned with the horrors of hex—or with the galvanizing personality of Ernest Lawrence.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
