sensationalize
verb (used with object)
to make sensational.
sensationalized
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past participleof sensationalize.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof sensationalize.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
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.
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
TikTok clips, podcasts, and celebrity advocates, including Kim Kardashian, helped reframe their story for younger audiences, highlighting claims of childhood abuse and trauma that were largely overshadowed during their sensationalized trials of the 1990s.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2025
There are a lot of documentaries that aren’t from the family, that are sensationalized — thankfully the power and the reputation of the movie has superseded all of those things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 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
