synthesize
Americanverb (used with object)
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synthesizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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synthesized,
past participle, past
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synthesizing
present participle
-
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)
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synthesizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
synthesized,
past participle, past
-
synthesizing
present participle
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
-
have been synthesizingperfect progressive
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has been synthesizingperfect progressive
Past
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synthesizedsimple
-
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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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:
"They can target a broad range of pathogens, and due to their potency, scientists have been trying to synthesize a variety for therapeutic uses."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
Seeley and his colleagues demonstrated how personality is, at least partly, brought into being by neurons that are specifically tailored to synthesize social functioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The new agentic Siri boasts the ability to synthesize data across areas like messages, emails and photos and carry out multistep actions across different apps.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026
Generative AI can synthesize and extrapolate in valuable ways, but it also can produce wrong answers or take on tasks that educators would see as inappropriate or counterproductive — such as writing papers for students.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
It should synthesize a particular grievance into a succinct and pithy phrase, while mobilizing the people to combat it.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The biography synthesizes an impressive collection of sources, including personal correspondence, photographs, portraits and the incidental writings of figures such as Franz Liszt and Victor Hugo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
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
When a body is injured, it synthesizes fibrin at the site of the wound.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 11, 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
Using their optimized conditions, they successfully synthesized lactones from 18 different ketone compounds.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Perhaps the most striking is the story of Compound E, an adrenal hormone isolated by the Mayo Clinic biochemist Edward Kendall in 1935 and later synthesized with great difficulty by Tishler and other Merck chemists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
It was first synthesized and tested in the late 1980s in Russia, where it can be used for research purposes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
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
Atoms synthesized in the interiors of stars are commonly returned to the interstellar gas.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The notes that he wrote up synthesizing his thoughts would form the basis of his viral manifesto.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
But artificial intelligence is stepping in on that synthesizing process.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
