legitimatize

verb le·git·i·ma·tize \ li-ˈji-tə-mə-ˌtīz \

Definition of legitimatize

legitimatized; legitimatizing

: legitimate

See legitimatize defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of legitimatize from the Web

And that legitimacy and trust in terms of its consumer application will have to be legitimatized by a brand and a brick and mortar environment, where the consumer has trust and confidence in the company that is providing the transaction.

— robert hackett, Fortune, "Bitcoin and Blockchains in Davos, Starbucks Coin, Nuclear Hacks," 27 Jan. 2018
Harcourt, a professor of history at Austin College, is particularly good at showing how anti-Klan cultural productions helped legitimatize the Klan’s views.

— eric herschthal, New Republic, "The KKK’s Attempt to Define America," 16 Jan. 2018
Abe wants to add a third paragraph to this article, to recognize and legitimatize the existence of the self-defense forces.

— anna fifield, Washington Post, "Abe may have hit a snag in plans to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution: His own party," 14 Dec. 2017
On the Internet, things that seem unfathomable are legitimatized through reinforced attention.

— alia e. dastagir, USA TODAY, "Hurricane Harvey: That shark photo is fake — and part of a bigger problem," 29 Aug. 2017

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