vulgarize

American  

[vuhl-guh-rahyz] / ˈvʌl gəˌraɪz /

especially British, vulgarise

verb (used with object)

vulgarized, vulgarizing

1. to make vulgar or coarse; lower; debase.

   to vulgarize standards of behavior.

2. to make (a technical or abstruse work) easier to understand and more widely known; popularize.

3. to translate (a work) from a classical language into the vernacular.

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vulgarize British  

/ ˈvʌlɡəˌraɪz /

verb

1. to make commonplace or vulgar; debase

2. to make (something little known or difficult to understand) widely known or popular among the public; popularize

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Other Word Forms

• unvulgarize verb (used with object)
• vulgarization noun
• vulgarizer noun

Etymology

Origin of vulgarize

First recorded in 1595–1605; vulgar + -ize

Example Sentences

In “Children of Light,” his Hollywood novel, he wrote: “There are people at this table who could vulgarize pure light.”

From New York Times • Mar. 9, 2020

James Ellroy served as one of two grand masters for the awards, saying, "We are here to vulgarize literature."

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2015

Many Britons had feared that televising the coronation would vulgarize it, but even the London Times observed that "posterity may well judge the telecast one of the wisest acts."

From Time Magazine Archive

The waves of vulgarity this picture gave off made me have the strong instinct that he was going to vulgarize the office of the presidency.

From Time Magazine Archive

It will take more than a generation or two to vulgarize the Cité du Diable, which in our days may be considered as remote from London as Bagdad.

From The Roof of France by Betham-Edwards, Matilda