Polarize
//ˈpəʊ.lə.ɹaɪz// verb
verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To cause to have a polarization. US, transitive
"To polarize, and indeed, to artificially distinguish between the secular and the religious is to dismiss the inarguable Judeo-Christian foundation of contemporary secular institutions."
- 2 become polarized in a conflict or contrasting situation wordnet
- 3 To cause a group to be divided into extremes. US, transitive
"The deal has polarized Twitter employees, users, and regulators over the power tech giants wield in determining the parameters of acceptable discourse on the internet and how those companies enforce their rules."
- 4 cause to concentrate about two conflicting or contrasting positions wordnet
- 5 cause to vibrate in a definite pattern wordnet
Example
More examples"Use of such divisive language tends to polarize the public."
Etymology
From French polariser, equivalent to polar + -ize.
Related phrases
More for "polarize"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.