ritualization
Americannoun
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the act of ritualizing.
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Ethology. the alteration of a behavior pattern, as by a change in intensity, in a way that increases its effectiveness as a signal to other members of the species.
Etymology
Origin of ritualization
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.
This ritualization offers a rebuttal to our modern age where weather is practically irrelevant; as Ms. Kondo puts it, “today, I can’t help but feel that nature and humanity live out increasingly separate timelines.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
There’s all this science and ritualization that goes into it that I found really helpful.
From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2023
In his book Death Foretold, Christakis calls this “the ritualization of optimism,” arguing that the difficulty of prognosis causes most doctors to shirk difficult conversations around end-of-life planning.
From Slate • Mar. 13, 2017
Earlier in the week, this excellent choir, founded in 1925, had shown extraordinary personal commitment and textual nuance in Peter Sellars’s heart-wrenching ritualization of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” at the Park Avenue Armory.
From New York Times • Oct. 12, 2014
Fishing appears to be far less subject to ritualization among the Washo than was hunting.
From Washo Religion by Downs, James F.
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.
