revolutionize

verb

rev·​o·​lu·​tion·​ize ˌre-və-ˈlü-shə-ˌnīz 

revolutionized; revolutionizing

transitive verb

1

: to overthrow the established government of

2

: to imbue with revolutionary doctrines

3

: to change fundamentally or completely

revolutionize an industry

intransitive verb

: to engage in revolution

revolutionizer noun

Examples of revolutionize in a Sentence

The invention of the airplane revolutionized travel.

This new drug may revolutionize cancer treatment.

This discovery has revolutionized our understanding of how the human brain works.

Recent Examples on the Web

Setting a standard Spielberg revolutionized the way Americans think about alien life. —Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Money, 14 June 2026

Erbstein revolutionized soccer in Italy before dying in 1949, along with the entire Torino team, when their plane crashed into a hilltop outside Turin. —Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2026

Quantum computing was once considered a distant scientific project that could revolutionize computing. —Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 13 June 2026

Musk has proved skeptics wrong plenty of times before, successfully making electric vehicles mainstream and revolutionizing space launches with reusable rockets. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 11 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

revolution + -ize

First Known Use

1797, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for revolutionize

• contextualize
• industrialize
• materialise
• materialize
• memorialize
• microenterprise
• overemphasize
• particularize
• revolutionise
• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise

Kids Definition

revolutionize

verb

rev·​o·​lu·​tion·​ize ˌrev-ə-ˈlü-shə-ˌnīz 

revolutionized; revolutionizing

1

: to overthrow the established government of

2

: to cause a person to become a revolutionist

3

: to change greatly or completely

an invention that revolutionized the industry

revolutionizer noun