synthesize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to form (a material or abstract entity) by combining parts or elements (opposed to analyze).
to synthesize a statement.
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Chemistry. to combine (constituent elements) into a single or unified entity.
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to treat synthetically.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to combine or cause to combine into a whole
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(tr) to produce by synthesis
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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synthesizationnoun
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resynthesizeverb (used with object)
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nonsynthesizedadjective
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unsynthesizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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synthesizesimple
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synthesizessimple
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have synthesizedperfect
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has synthesizedperfect
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am synthesizingprogressive
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are synthesizingprogressive
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is synthesizingprogressive
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have been synthesizingperfect progressive
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has been synthesizingperfect progressive
Past
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synthesizedsimple
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had synthesizedperfect
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was synthesizingprogressive
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were synthesizingprogressive
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had been synthesizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of synthesize
First recorded in 1820–30; synthes(is) + -ize
Explanation
When you synthesize, you combine two or more things to create something more complex. It's becoming more common for doctors these days to synthesize Eastern and Western approaches to medicine. While synthesize was first used in 1830, scientists and inventors were doing what it means long before that, mixing stuff together to create new materials and products. Medical researchers chemically synthesize chemicals every day in the lab, hoping to create the next wonder drug. When you write a research paper on a given topic, you must find and synthesize information related to that topic, so you can understand what it means and structure an argument in support of your thesis.
Vocabulary lists containing synthesize
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Argumentative Writing
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Vocabulary of the Common Core
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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:
Notably, similar approaches are widely used today in laboratories to synthesize artificial nanozymes.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 10, 2026
At SharkNinja, the company’s AI-native workers are working on high-level projects, such as using the technology to synthesize data signals to make real-time adjustments to its supply chain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
The agents are meant to help those companies’ employees build presentations, synthesize webs of data sets and filings, build financial models, and complete other tasks, Anthropic said on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
Birken said you can synthesize the information you need down to a few lines that articulate your steps for making up the difference between what you have and what you spend.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
Lymphocytes are apparently informed about everything foreign around them, and some of them come equipped for fitting with polymers that do not exist until organic chemists synthesize them in their laboratories.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
The second is that humans specialize while AI synthesizes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
It’s usually everyone building off of each other, and then someone synthesizes those ideas, pitches it out to the room, and you feel this collective relief and excitement within that room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2025
The platform’s AI then synthesizes this information and generates a robust appeal letter that incorporates data from peer-reviewed scientific evidence, legal precedents where insurers have lost in court and relevant policy.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
WeCount synthesizes the data and creates imputations for the clinics that don't send their data.
From Salon ● May 15, 2024
Parks Canada is also taking advantage of another technological development called stereophotogrammetry, which produces pictures in pairs and then synthesizes hundreds of these pairings to produce extraordinarily clear images of whatever object is being studied.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
Sports are ideal for new video and communication technologies, as athletic performance is measured by statistics, and that data can be tabulated, synthesized and repurposed for viewers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
In his paintings Porter synthesized feelings and understanding into a luminous whole, his subjects the people, places and things that were closest at hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
"That is why enzymatic synthesis in water can matter. If far more than 64 sequences can be synthesized in parallel, it could offer an environmentally friendly route toward writing DNA at very large scale."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
At its essence, AI sees patterns that defy human comprehension—and that of most other technologies—to quickly create powerful synthesized knowledge.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
The synthesized voice of the cab’s computer told me the drive would take an estimated thirty-two minutes with the current traffic conditions.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
In a new study published in Nature Electronics, a Harvard led research team unveiled a silicon chip capable of synthesizing 64 different DNA sequences at the same time.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
But Socolow came off as masterful at synthesizing energy challenges and environmental concerns, and Pacala brought deep knowledge of how carbon moves between Earth’s atmosphere, land and oceans.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
“If you’re synthesizing the stuff that yields biological life and viruses, we’re asking you to screen to see whether it is dangerous in some way,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Though far from perfect, AI systems already outperform human customer-service agents on many routine tasks, particularly in gathering, synthesizing and consistently delivering information.
From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026
He looks down at the scrawling he’s made on the paper, synthesizing everything he’s written, as if expecting new information to leap out at him.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
