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
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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)
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synthesizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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synthesized,
past participle, past
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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
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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:
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
The company said the suite of tools can give any agent —an AI which can work autonomously— the ability to synthesize and summarize scientific knowledge, evaluate results, and then reason and execute the next actions.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
"We synthesize unique nanoscale building blocks and stack them into interesting structures. In this case, we were able to stabilize these theorized transitional structures and demonstrate important quantum optical properties."
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2026
This capacity, Beadle understood, was due to the presence of enzymes within the cell—proteins that acted as master builders and could synthesize complex biological macromolecules out of basic precursor chemicals.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Vargas Llosa intersperses the story with nimbly delivered informational chapters explaining the history and influences of the Peruvian vals, or waltz, which synthesizes European and indigenous musical styles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 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
The researchers used their model to generate genomes based on the template virus and then synthesized the DNA and put the AI-generated viruses into bacterial cells.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Those viruses are much larger and more complex than the ones synthesized in the experiment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
It was first synthesized from thymosin β4 in 2003 and has since been used to help horses and greyhounds improve racing performance.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 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
And the lives of these old black women were synthesized in their eyes—a puree of tragedy and humor, wickedness and serenity, truth and fantasy.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
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
Even the pioneers of AI will tell you, Stassun said, in many cases, what AI does very well is rapidly synthesizing, consolidating or repackaging existing information.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026
The expectation is that AI agents will handle the time-consuming work: synthesizing information, drafting materials and identifying patterns.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026
The explanation is that occasional individual almond trees have a mutation in a single gene that prevents them from synthesizing the bitter-tasting amygdalin.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
