denuclearize

verb

de·​nu·​cle·​ar·​ize (ˈ)dē-ˈn(y)ü-klē-ə-ˌrīz How to pronounce denuclearize (audio)
nonstandard
-kyə-lə-ˌrīz How to pronounce denuclearize (audio)
denuclearized; denuclearizing

transitive verb

: to remove nuclear arms from : prohibit the use of nuclear arms in
denuclearization
(ˌ)dē-ˌn(y)ü-klē-ə-rə-ˈzā-shən How to pronounce denuclearize (audio)
 nonstandard  -kyə-lə-rə-
noun

Examples of denuclearize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Pyongyang depends heavily on Beijing for energy, food, and most of its meager trade with the outside world, and so successive U.S. administrations have tried to enlist the Chinese in their attempts to denuclearize North Korea. Oriana Skylar Mastro, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2017 In 2009, under President Barack Obama, Washington tried diplomacy again to persuade Pyongyang to denuclearize. Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2023 The disappointing conclusion shook the public’s faith in summit diplomacy and undermined Seoul’s efforts to foster parallel processes: for denuclearizing North Korea, building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, and fostering inter-Korean economic cooperation. Chung-In Moon, Foreign Affairs, 14 Mar. 2019 And there was a period in the late 1990s when the two countries were still working together to denuclearize the Soviet republics. Gregory F. Treverton, Fortune, 5 July 2023 Faced with economic hardship, Kim Jong Il avoided regime collapse by negotiating for economic aid from the U.S. and South Korea in return for promising to denuclearize—even though Pyongyang secretly kept enriching uranium and selling weapons to the Middle East. Andrew Jeong, WSJ, 1 Oct. 2020 Jia, the Chinese government adviser, said China continues to be willing to help on a multilateral efforts to denuclearize North Korea and Iran, or to resume the Paris climate accord, and would not necessarily link cooperation on these issues with areas of friction with Washington. Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2021 Last week, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea called on China and Russia to do more to convince North Korea to denuclearize. Dasl Yoon, WSJ, 5 Dec. 2022 However, since Trump refused to accept Kim’s offer to denuclearize his country with the partial lifting of the devastating economic sanctions in the Hanoi summit in 2019, Kim publicly nullified his self-moratorium and resumed testing his powerful missiles. Mitch Shin, Fox News, 10 Oct. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'denuclearize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of denuclearize was in 1958

Dictionary Entries Near denuclearize

Cite this Entry

“Denuclearize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denuclearize. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on denuclearize

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!