as in to popularize
to use so much as to make less appealing the composer's masterpiece has been hopelessly vulgarized by its use in countless TV commercials

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of vulgarize His versions were full-blooded, with lush strings and reasonably large orchestras — and, purists alleged — vulgarizing distortions. BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2019 Ever since his rise to power, Trump has served as a vulgarizing agent. Leon Neyfakh, Slate Magazine, 2 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vulgarize
Verb
  • Nudging, a subtle behavioral technique popularized by economist Richard Thaler, effectively guides employee behavior without coercion.
    Mike Hyzy, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
  • Only recently have some of the traditional aspects of bridal wear first popularized by Victoria been updated for modern times.
    Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 30 June 2025
Verb
  • Her writing resonated with me as the father of a respectful, intelligent kid who may be stereotyped while wearing a black hoodie.
    Marshall Shepherd, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
  • All the focus on weight neglects the very real risk for developing an eating disorder during this phase of life, in part because eating disorders are still so often inaccurately stereotyped as only a teenage affliction.
    Time, Time, 26 June 2025
Verb
  • One common flaw in many golfers’ putting strokes is overusing the hands and wrists.
    Jeff Goudy, Forbes.com, 22 June 2025
  • Andrew Cunningham Andrew Cunningham Adding some additional infill can add some strength to prints, though 15 percent usually gives a decent amount of strength without overusing filament.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 22 May 2025
Verb
  • The Athletic is already guilty of cynically overexposing Arsenal's Max Dowman and Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha.
    Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 18 June 2025
  • Applying a minor exposure adjustment will naturally boost the contrast between darker and lighter tones of your image, and a good result will be one where the solar disk does not appear under- or overexposed.
    Josh Dury, Space.com, 30 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Signs of infestation include a decline in leaf growth, boring dust in the cracks of tree bark and oozing sap, according to University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
    Cameron Macdonald, Mercury News, 20 June 2025
  • Burnett seems bored by the conventions of the revenge gangster plot, which took over Black film and music, in the nineties.
    Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Vulgarize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vulgarize. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.

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