sensationalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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sensationalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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sensationalized,
past participle, past
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sensationalizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sensationalizesimple
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sensationalizessimple
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have sensationalizedperfect
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has sensationalizedperfect
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am sensationalizingprogressive
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are sensationalizingprogressive
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is sensationalizingprogressive
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have been sensationalizingperfect progressive
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has been sensationalizingperfect progressive
Past
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sensationalizedsimple
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had sensationalizedperfect
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was sensationalizingprogressive
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were sensationalizingprogressive
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had been sensationalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sensationalize
First recorded in 1850–55; sensational + -ize
Explanation
To sensationalize is to exaggerate a story to make it more thrilling or alarming. Newspapers sometimes sensationalize a headline in order to sell more papers. TV, online news sources, and other media use this tactic all the time, sensationalizing the details of a news story, the headline describing it, or the images that accompany it. Watching the news can make you think that your city is becoming more dangerous, but it's not always true — often, the media has sensationalized a few crimes and made it seem that way. Sensationalize shares a Latin root with sensation that means "feeling."
Vocabulary lists containing sensationalize
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:
“Oftentimes, people—especially young scientists—want to call old discoveries by new names to sensationalize them,” she says.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2024
Gladstone, who was cast in the series in 2022, told Deadline in an interview that all involved with “Under the Bridge” took pains not to sensationalize its true-crime topic.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
There is an almost abstract quality to the sound that is supposedly “in camera,” but part of the point of that is to not sensationalize the use of sound when possible.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2024
Lelio approaches the material matter-of-factly, refusing to either sensationalize or desexualize the relationship; it’s a rare mainstream portrayal of same-sex attraction that considers both emotional and physical attraction on equal footing.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
They tend to sensationalize — to appeal to the voyeuristic tendencies people have.
From 100 New Yorkers of the 1970s by Max Millard
“This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked,” Cheung said.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
Now it suggests a person who exaggerates and sensationalizes potential dangers, sowing needless panic.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2020
However, highlighting them only sensationalizes the most shocking aspects of the outbreak.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2019
“This lawsuit simply repeats much of the recent media coverage, mischaracterizes Andy’s departure from Google and sensationalizes claims made about Andy by his ex-wife,” Mr. Rubin’s lawyer, Ellen Stross, said in a statement Monday.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2019
To ensure that no one embellishes or sensationalizes their stories, I’m going to ask them to sign an honor code.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
The wrong ones show up, too, as a disastrously sensationalized television venture showed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
However, some analysts believe Claude Cowork is the latest sensationalized headline feeding into an overly pessimistic narrative of AI eating software.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 15, 2026
Even crime in Orange County has been sensationalized and glamorized, with themes veneered by opulence, secrecy and illusions of suburban perfection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026
There was obviously sensitivity around Paul’s arrest; he didn’t want that to be sensationalized.
From Salon ● May 23, 2025
The forty-page report was quickly denounced by Korean Air officials as sensationalized and unrepresentative, but by that point, it was too late to save the company’s reputation.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
“People watch the headlines too much — the sensationalizing of it all. I bet people think the market’s down much more than 5%,” said Steve Azoury, owner of Azoury Financial in Troy, Mich.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026
When Salon spoke with microbiologist Luis Andrés Yarzábal, an associate professor at the Universidad Católica de Cuenca in Ecuador, he was indeed careful to avoid sensationalizing the problem.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2025
Jordan has found a successful niche by sensationalizing crime and chaos in one of the world’s most populated and frequently visited cities.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2025
Hawes utilizes that iconography without exploiting or sensationalizing the material; the film is emotionally restrained in a way that is almost frustrating at times but ultimately reflects the character of Winton’s quiet, self-effacing personality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
An increasing number of Harlem leaders declared that the principal reason for this was the downtown white press media, sensationalizing what was going on in a calm, dignified community.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
