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
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.
Quantum computers, offshoots of quantum mechanics, can explore multiple solutions at once, and promise the kind of processing power that could revolutionize medicine, materials science, and other fields.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Apple would go on to revolutionize the tech industry, creating innovative, intuitive and beautiful gadgets billions of people would buy again and again.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
He grew up dabbling at his local multi-sport club before choosing which one he would come to revolutionize: cross-country skiing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
SUZHOU, China—Elon Musk has been telling investors for months that Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot will revolutionize the world and create a new mega-industry.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026
In the following decades this new understanding of space and time was to revolutionize our view of the universe.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
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.
