valorize

American  

[val-uh-rahyz] / ˈvæl əˌraɪz /

especially British, valorise

verb (used with object)

valorized, valorizing

1. to provide for the maintaining of the value or price of (a commercial commodity) by a government's purchasing the commodity at the fixed price or by its making special loans to the producers.

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valorize British  

/ ˈvæləˌraɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to fix and maintain an artificial price for (a commodity) by governmental action

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Other Word Forms

• valorization
  noun

Etymology

Origin of valorize

First recorded in 1905–10; from Late Latin valor “worth” ( see valor) + -ize

Explanation

To valorize something is to emphasize or enhance its value or importance. Some filmmakers valorize war, making it look noble and exciting on screen. As one who loves to lounge around and take frequent naps, you might feel misunderstood by a culture that valorizes hard work at the expense of rest and relaxation. Economists use the word valorize in a different way, to describe what a government does when it intervenes in a market to fix, increase, or maintain the prices of goods or services or the value of its currency. Valorize comes from the Late Latin valorem, "value or worth," and a root meaning "be strong."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

valorize valorized valorizing

Sander does not romanticize, valorize or flatter them: The even lighting comes from an overcast sky; they are dressed in dark suits and hats, one smokes a cigarette, and each sports a cane.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

"In general chemistry we learn that carbon dioxide reacts with hydroxide to form carbonate. That's undesired because it depletes the molecule we want to valorize," said Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Molecular Engineering Chibueze Amanchukwu.

From Science Daily ● May 24, 2024

So many programs these days valorize variety, but to spend a bit over an hour in a single sound world can be a profound experience.

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023

A series on studio spaces she has vacated over years is inscrutably blank, although it does chronicle a nomadic life and valorize Fernandez’s commitments as a working artist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2022

How could the schools valorize men and women whose values society actively scorned?

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

That’s why it’s so important to not have a cultural figure valorized by one point of view, the idea that we can decide what’s good art, or what’s valuable.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

Many argue that Gandhi was excessively valorized — and the contributions of militant leaders overlooked — in the decades after 1947, when his party, the Indian National Congress, dominated politics and shaped the nation’s mythmaking.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 12, 2022

Many in the outside world have valorized Anabaptists’ beliefs in forgiveness.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 28, 2021

Productivity in that sense has become a valorized buzzword, with a whole ecosystem of coaches and consultants to help people squeeze one more to-do list item out of an afternoon.

From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2021

A federal loan of £9,000,000, with 4,535,000 bags of valorized coffee as collateral, was placed in London and New York in May, 1922.

From All About Coffee by Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)

Institutions must take account of race, for sure, but without valorizing it to an extent that ends up compounding racist stereotyping itself.

From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2024

The use of chemical pesticides is forbidden in Paris parks, thereby valorizing the plants that are naturally disease-resistant.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022

But “Marie, Dancing Still” also can go mawkish, valorizing its flawed characters into heroes and glossing the demimonde grit in an era when everything was not beautiful at the ballet.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2019

While the Royal Society set off in one direction, valorizing plainness, other communities of scholars, at other points in history, were more inclined to fancy talk.

From Slate ● Dec. 12, 2017

The most compelling solo jazz piano music has a way of blurring the lines, valorizing technical astonishments mainly as a means to an end, while delivering less tangible, more mysterious rewards.

From New York Times ● Jul. 2, 2011