simplify
Americanverb (used with object)
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simplifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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simplified,
past participle, past
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simplifying
present participle
verb
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to make less complicated, clearer, or easier
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maths to reduce (an equation, fraction, etc) to a simpler form by cancellation of common factors, regrouping of terms in the same variable, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsimplificationnoun
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simplificationnoun
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simplificatornoun
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simplifiernoun
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supersimplifyverb (used with object)
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simplificativeadjective
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unsimplifiedadjective
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unsimplifyingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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simplifysimple
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simplifiessimple
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have simplifiedperfect
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has simplifiedperfect
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am simplifyingprogressive
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are simplifyingprogressive
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is simplifyingprogressive
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have been simplifyingperfect progressive
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has been simplifyingperfect progressive
Past
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simplifiedsimple
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had simplifiedperfect
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was simplifyingprogressive
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were simplifyingprogressive
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had been simplifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of simplify
First recorded in 1645–55; from French simplifier, from Medieval Latin simplificāre “to make simple,” equivalent to Latin simpli-, combining form of simplus simple + -ficāre -fy
Explanation
To simplify something is to make it less complex and easier to understand. When you simplify, you make things clearer. Since simple things have less parts or complexity, when you simplify, you're eliminating the clutter and reducing something to its essence. For example, if a speech is long and confusing, the person giving it might need to simplify their ideas: make them clearer. Teachers are good at simplifying; they take complex ideas and make them easier for students to understand. If you don't understand what someone is telling you, ask them to simplify it.
Vocabulary lists containing simplify
Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 8
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Algebra
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Algebra
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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.
See Examples For:
“This process is the best path forward to simplify the business and focus on what we do best.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Leiters is working to simplify the automaker and boost profit by realigning the strategy as the German auto industry recalibrates to intensifying market headwinds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
“What John Brase was saying is we need to simplify things and make this business make more sense,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
"Hello, America. Whatever you need from government, start here," reads the America.gov platform, which Trump launched on Tuesday in a bid to simplify access to government information and federal services.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
He needed someone who could collaborate with MTI to pare down the show, simplify some of the music and set, while still pulling off a production that would impress Mackintosh.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Traveling across interstellar distances introduces many additional complications, including the curvature of spacetime, which the paper also simplifies out.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
Target-date funds have been touted as an option that simplifies the process, especially when the alternative, like choosing specific assets and what percentage of a portfolio that should be invested in them, feels daunting.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Traverso recommends making the dumplings from scratch, but I prefer buying them pre-made and frozen, which simplifies this recipe even further.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
The settlement simplifies matters for Musk, who plans to take his rocket company SpaceX public this summer in a potentially record IPO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
The table greatly simplifies a complex mass of historical facts: see the text for some of the many important caveats.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
O’Keeffe simplified them, exploring geometric shapes and planes of color.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
He‘d push to “invest in simplified onboarding, proactive advising and better counselor ratios.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Those simplified approaches have produced valuable insights, but they can leave out important behavior found in real-world systems, where individual components and their interactions can be far more complicated.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Many studies also rely on simplified mathematical models, including the widely used Kuramoto model, that represent each node with only a single variable.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
I have simplified the story of Saint Winifred, leaving out her uncle, who clamped her head back onto her neck.
From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz
For some, though, the choice is less about a dislike of bold nails and more about simplifying their routine.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
One potential way to do that is by simplifying requirements for scientific studies and speeding review times, one of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
“We are removing layers, simplifying team structures, refining our global location strategy, and focusing our people and investments against the biggest opportunities ahead of us,” Khosrowshahi said in his letter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
"By simplifying the design, we reached a size at which these robots can operate directly in the microbial world - almost like microscopic cleaning devices."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
Though Gogol doesn’t know it, even Nikolai Gogol renamed himself, simplifying his surname at the age of twenty-two from Gogol-Yanovsky to Gogol upon publication in the Literary Gazette.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
