- past participle of specialize.
- past tense form of specialize.
specialized
Americanadjective
-
invested with a special character or restricted to a special function or field of activity.
He campaigned for a specialized burn department to be established at the hospital.
The humanities, once a highly specialized pursuit, have rapidly become a much broader conversation.
-
Biology. (of an organism or organ) adapted to a special function or environment.
If the coastal sage scrub were to vanish, so would these specialized species of insects that are dependent on it.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of specialized
Explanation
Someone or something specialized has a specific purpose or function. A podiatrist is a specialized doctor. With months of specialized training, a person could learn to walk over hot coals. Good thing that there are doctors specialized in fixing feet. The word specialized comes from special. Something special is important, notable, or unique in some way. A specialized hammer is made for one, specific purpose. A specialized teacher has expertise in a particular subject. NASCAR drivers use specialized cars, and assemble-at-home furniture comes with specialized tools. The opposite of a specialized thing is a general thing, which could be used in many circumstances. Something specialized is tailored to one job.
Vocabulary lists containing specialized
Cell Biology - Middle School
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Cell Biology - High School
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 5
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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.
Matthew Stamm, a media forensics expert at Drexel University, told AFP his analysis of the image using specialized software "identified traces left by generative AI with high confidence."
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026
In addition, the museum’s curators tended to be specialized in material culture — collecting and studying the museum’s several million objects and artifacts — rather than in conceptual storytelling.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
"When he came to Mizzou from Tokyo to join our lab, his specialized imaging expertise helped us start to answer questions that previously seemed out of reach," Arnold said.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
“Really for 40 years, most professions have become increasingly specialized and narrow,” Smith continued:
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Long Beach Savings, it appeared to Eisman and his partners, specialized in asking homeowners with bad credit and no proof of income to accept floating-rate mortgages.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
