sanitize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to free from dirt, germs, etc., as by cleaning or sterilizing.
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to make less offensive by eliminating anything unwholesome, objectionable, incriminating, etc..
to sanitize a document before releasing it to the press.
verb
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to make sanitary or hygienic, as by sterilizing
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to omit unpleasant details from (a news report, document, etc) to make it more palatable to the recipients
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sanitizesimple
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sanitizessimple
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have sanitizedperfect
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has sanitizedperfect
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am sanitizingprogressive
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are sanitizingprogressive
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is sanitizingprogressive
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have been sanitizingperfect progressive
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has been sanitizingperfect progressive
Past
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sanitizedsimple
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had sanitizedperfect
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was sanitizingprogressive
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were sanitizingprogressive
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had been sanitizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sanitize
First recorded in 1830–40; sanit(ary) + -ize
Explanation
To sanitize something is to make it extremely clean. After watching you play with your slobbery dog, your fastidious friend might insist that you sanitize your hands before sitting down to dinner. When you clean or sterilize something, particularly for reasons of good health (like not spreading germs), you can say that you sanitize it. You can also use this verb in a figurative way, whenever you "clean" something: "She doesn't want to risk alienating her audience, so she sanitizes her speech to remove anything that might offend them." The Latin root is sanitas, "health."
Vocabulary lists containing sanitize
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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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.
Her concurrence also refuses to sanitize Reconstruction into an abstract legal debate.
From Slate • Jul. 2, 2026
“I think it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize accurate reporting,” Alfonsi told the New York Times of her firing.
From Salon • Jun. 1, 2026
But Mr. Stern’s point is made: The effort to sanitize warfare doesn’t succeed, no matter how advanced the technology becomes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
Founded by brothers Neal, Daniel, Jeffrey and Jordan Harmon, the company began as VidAngel, a service that allowed viewers to sanitize Hollywood movies by erasing sex, violence and swear words.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2025
When I arrived at a hospital, I was usually met by a charge nurse, handed a set of medical scrubs to wear, and instructed to sanitize my hands each time I entered a room.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
