revolutionize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to bring about a revolution in; effect a radical change in.
to revolutionize petroleum refining methods.
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to subject to a political revolution.
verb
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to bring about a radical change in
science has revolutionized civilization
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to inspire or infect with revolutionary ideas
they revolutionized the common soldiers
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to cause a revolution in (a country, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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revolutionizesimple
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revolutionizessimple
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have revolutionizedperfect
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has revolutionizedperfect
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am revolutionizingprogressive
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are revolutionizingprogressive
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is revolutionizingprogressive
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have been revolutionizingperfect progressive
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has been revolutionizingperfect progressive
Past
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revolutionizedsimple
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had revolutionizedperfect
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was revolutionizingprogressive
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were revolutionizingprogressive
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had been revolutionizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of revolutionize
First recorded in 1790–1800; revolution + -ize
Explanation
Revolutionize, a verb, means "to make a major change," like in the 1990s, when the Internet revolutionized how people communicated, got information and even did their jobs. Things were never the same again. Use revolutionize to describe something that is completely transformed. Originally, it meant "to bring about sweeping political change," like people who band together and fight to revolutionize a nation, with the end result being a new party in power or new philosophies about things like land ownership or tax collection put in place. In time, it also came to mean even nonpolitical change, like the digital music player, which revolutionized how people get and listen to music.
Vocabulary lists containing revolutionize
100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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"Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center" by John F. Kennedy
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Hey, Kiddo
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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.
"Altermagnets could completely revolutionize the way we transport information, but to confirm if this elegant theory is true, we need experiments that identify altermagnets and confirm they behave the way scientists predict."
From Science Daily • Jun. 23, 2026
These tests are “a ground breaking technology which is going to revolutionize cancer care across the board,” says Dr. Joyce A. O’Shaughnessy, chair, breast cancer research at the Baylor Scott & White Sammons Cancer Center.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 14, 2026
SpaceX pioneered reusable rockets and built Starlink, a space-based broadband service poised to revolutionize mobile connectivity.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
Once upon a time, a dynamic young entrepreneur came to him with a brilliant idea that, on paper, could revolutionize healthcare diagnoses and reduce costs exponentially.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
Virginia Tucker and all the women who had helped revolutionize aeronautics, with their work and their dogged presence at the NACA.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
