Standard Lemma guide

politicize

verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • pə-lĭt'ĭsīz'
  • /pəˈlɪtɪˌsaɪz/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P AH0 L IH1 T IH0 S AY2 Z Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To engage in or discuss politics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To give something political characteristics; to turn into a political issue.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • My parents started politicizing the weather as soon as they opened their snowplow business.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To make someone politically active or aware.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

give a political character to

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • politicize the discussion

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: politicise

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: change, alter, modify

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English politic Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English politicize From politic + -ize.

Across languages

Translations

38 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: занима́вам се с поли́тика (zanimávam se s polítika) — to engage in or discuss politics
  • Finnish: politikoida — to engage in or discuss politics
  • Hungarian: politizál — to engage in or discuss politics
  • Macedonian: бистри политика (bistri politika) — to engage in or discuss politics
  • Russian: занима́ться поли́тикой (zanimátʹsja polítikoj) — to engage in or discuss politics
  • Arabic: سَيَّسَ (sayyasa) — to give something political characteristics
  • Belarusian: палітызава́ць (palityzavácʹ) — to give something political characteristics
  • Bulgarian: политизи́рам (politizíram) — to give something political characteristics
  • Catalan: polititzar — to give something political characteristics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 政治化 (zhèngzhìhuà) — to give something political characteristics
  • Czech: politizovat — to give something political characteristics
  • Finnish: politisoida — to give something political characteristics
  • French: politiser — to give something political characteristics
  • Galician: politizar — to give something political characteristics
  • German: politisieren — to give something political characteristics
  • Greek: πολιτικοποιώ (politikopoió) — to give something political characteristics
  • Italian: politicizzare — to give something political characteristics
  • Japanese: 政治化する (seijika suru) — to give something political characteristics
  • Korean: 정치화하다 (jeongchihwahada) — to give something political characteristics
  • Macedonian: политизи́ра (politizíra) — to give something political characteristics
  • Occitan: politizar — to give something political characteristics
  • Polish: upolityczniać — to give something political characteristics
  • Polish: upolitycznić — to give something political characteristics
  • Portuguese: politizar — to give something political characteristics
  • Romanian: politiza — to give something political characteristics
  • Russian: политизи́ровать (politizírovatʹ) — to give something political characteristics
  • Spanish: politizar — to give something political characteristics
  • Swedish: politisera — to give something political characteristics
  • Ukrainian: політизува́ти (polityzuváty) — to give something political characteristics
  • Catalan: polititzar — to make someone politically active
  • Finnish: politisoida — to make someone politically active
  • Galician: politizar — to make someone politically active
  • German: politisieren — to make someone politically active
  • Greek: πολιτικοποιώ (politikopoió) — to make someone politically active
  • Italian: politicizzare — to make someone politically active
  • Portuguese: politizar — to make someone politically active
  • Spanish: politizar — to make someone politically active
  • Swedish: politisera — to make someone politically active