Synonyms

utilize

American

[yoot-l-ahyz] / ˈjut lˌaɪz /

especially British, utilise

verb (used with object)

to put to use; turn to profitable account.

to utilize a stream to power a mill.

utilize British

/ ˈjuːtɪˌlaɪz /

verb

(tr) to make practical or worthwhile use of

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What is another way to say utilize? To utilize something is to put it to use or turn it to profitable account. How is utilize different from use? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of utilize

First recorded in 1800–10; from French utiliser, equivalent to utile “useful” ( see utile) + -iser -ize

Explanation

To utilize is to use what you have or what's available, and it's a three-syllable word meaning the same thing as the one-syllable "use." The word utilize is often a more formal way to express "putting something to use." If you don’t have time to go to the store but you need to come up with a science project, you might utilize what's already in the kitchen. Most of the time you can use the verb use as a synonym for utilize. You can utilize a shorter word to make a sentence easier to read.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing utilize

Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List

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"Creativity at Work" and "The Hidden Secrets of the Creative Mind"

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Content Summary 4.1: Causes and Consequences of Iberian Maritime Exploration and Colonialism

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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:

utilize utilizes utilized utilizing

I learned to appreciate where my food came from and how to utilize every ingredient and part of the animal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Now coach Thomas Randolph is looking to utilize his athleticism and smarts as a receiver.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

There were other features in the app that I didn’t fully utilize, like journal prompts, mood trackers, meditations, and more.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

And yet, the film fails to utilize either to its advantage, wasting great talent and a halfway-decent premise on mind-numbing dialogue, repetitive plotting and dour lighting.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

And the system does utilize the nutrients for my skin.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

But Mr. Tommasini also utilizes more recent academic scholarship, as well as personal interviews with individuals such as the opera star Leontyne Price, who viewed Anderson as a role model.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Jordan’s mural utilizes the flush mount dome in the center of the dining room ceiling as an Art Deco-inspired star motif, with painted white points extending from it for emphasis.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

SpaceX utilizes an industry-dominating launch business to support Starlink and, eventually, its artificial-intelligence wing.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

Gleich, who was also Utah’s democratic nominee for Senate in 2024, utilizes her online platform of nearly 400,000 combined followers to raise awareness about the Stratos project.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

The basic approach utilizes discovery in terms of music learning, and also is synchronous with many of the 21st-century learning approaches discussed in Chapter 1.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Revolut called the incident “a sophisticated external impersonation scam where an unauthorized third party utilized a legitimate government agency domain email to submit fraudulent requests for information.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Egyptians in antiquity engaged in sword combat for warfare, but also for competition — Romans utilized swords in gladiator events, rituals and duels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

The company has also utilized mergers and acquisitions to bolster its cybersecurity offerings, closing acquisitions for Veza and Armis earlier this year.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 2, 2026

“When we have had complex cases in which a patient required additional anti-venom therapy, we have utilized existing protocols to obtain additional doses from our suppliers,” the statement said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

As a result, domestic animals did not reach sub-Saharan Africa until thousands of years after they began to be utilized by emerging Eurasian civilizations.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

She also recommended treatments utilizing exosomes, vesicles derived from stem cells, which purport to combat anxiety among other menopause symptoms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

“Your Mother” came together after Tariq and Ali failed to get a “Blade” reboot green-lighted, with Ali utilizing his martial-arts training from that aborted Marvel project.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

And much like Parsons, Hopper, and the other established columnists of the fan magazine era, there’s a push towards utilizing these same studios to further one’s brand.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

Customers are utilizing Falcon Flex, the company’s flexible licensing model, to buy a prepaid balance of funds for use across various modules.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

“Oui,” you tell him, utilizing the summation of almost three years of high school French.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023