democratize

verb de·moc·ra·tize \ di-ˈmä-krə-ˌtīz \

|Updated on: 6 Aug 2018

Examples: democratize in a Sentence

Definition of democratize

democratized; democratizing

transitive verb

: to make democratic

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democratization

play \-ˌmä-krə-tə-ˈzā-shən\ noun

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democratizer

play \-ˈmä-krə-ˌtī-zər\ noun

See democratize defined for English-language learners

See democratize defined for kids

Examples of democratize in a Sentence

Community leaders have had some success in democratizing the organization.
There is internal pressure on the government to democratize.
The magazine's goal is to democratize art.
an effort to democratize politics

Recent Examples of democratize from the Web

Unirule was founded 25 years ago to promote liberalizing China’s economy and democratizing its government.

— chris buckley, New York Times, "In Beijing, Doors Shut on a Bastion of Independent Ideas," 11 July 2018
As Mexico democratized over the past twenty years, the PRI proved remarkably resilient.

— michael lettieri, Washington Post, "Mexico votes tomorrow. Here’s how the country will be radically transformed when the PRI loses.," 30 June 2018
Something that will democratize the joy of learning about technology for diverse groups of young people, just like you.

— kriti sharma, Teen Vogue, "How Artificial Intelligence Can Help Underserved Communities Around the World," 7 June 2018
With her spur-of-the-moment turtleneck, Ms. Stone went a long way to democratizing the stark minimalism that designers like Calvin Klein and Helmut Lang were sanctifying in the ’90s.

— rory satran, WSJ, "How to Get Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s Radically Simple Style," 11 Apr. 2018
Subaru was one of the first carmakers to democratize advanced safety and driver assist features by offering the technology to the masses in affordable vehicles.

— jeff yip, Houston Chronicle, "Newly arrived 2019 Subaru Ascent fills three-row midsize SUV niche," 24 June 2018
On the one hand is the tech-utopian vision of our digital lives ushering in new civic opportunities for democratizing access, knowledge, and community.

— elena souris, Vox, "Data rights are civic rights: a participatory framework for GDPR in the US?," 12 Apr. 2018
The humble kiss, for all its shortcomings—sloppiness, squishing, aggression, to name a few—is a far more democratized space in entertainment.

— hannah giorgis, The Atlantic, "Actually, Kissing Is Good," 25 May 2018
Taiwan democratized in 1987 after four decades of authoritarian rule.

— ralph jennings, latimes.com, "In Taiwan, another former president is sentenced to prison," 15 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'democratize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of democratize

borrowed from French démocratiser, from démocratie democracy + -iser -ize

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First Known Use: 1798

in the meaning defined above

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DEMOCRATIZE Defined for English Language Learners

democratize

verb

Definition of democratize for English Language Learners

: to make (a country or organization) more democratic
: to make (something) available to all people : to make it possible for all people to understand (something)