medicalize
verb
med·i·cal·ize
ˈme-di-kə-ˌlīz 
medicalized; medicalizing
: to view or treat as a medical concern, problem, or disorder
This research has persuaded some authorities to medicalize obesity as a disease.—
Miguel A. Roman-Diaz
Miguel A. Roman-DiazExamples of medicalize in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The perspective that preaddiction is similar to prediabetes also serves to medicalize addiction, reinforcing narrow conceptualizations of what addiction is and pulling attention away from other sociopolitical and environmental causes that also drive risk for substance use disorders.
—Cassandra L. Boness, STAT, 25 May 2023
Conception — so often an intimate act — is made impersonal and medicalized in the context of the fertility clinic, and then made intimate again through the abuse of the doctor-patient relationship.
—Lisa Bubert, Longreads, 28 Mar. 2023
In the late 19th century, when a wave of immigrants came to the U.S. from Southern and Eastern Europe, there was a parallel effort to medicalize and demonize excessive body hair, Herzig said.
—NBC News, 4 Mar. 2021
Big Pharma hands the baton to Big Couch in the race to medicalize life.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 15 Mar. 2010
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Cassandra L. Boness, STAT, 25 May 2023
Conception — so often an intimate act — is made impersonal and medicalized in the context of the fertility clinic, and then made intimate again through the abuse of the doctor-patient relationship.
—Lisa Bubert, Longreads, 28 Mar. 2023
In the late 19th century, when a wave of immigrants came to the U.S. from Southern and Eastern Europe, there was a parallel effort to medicalize and demonize excessive body hair, Herzig said.
—NBC News, 4 Mar. 2021
Big Pharma hands the baton to Big Couch in the race to medicalize life.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 15 Mar. 2010
Cite this Entry
“Medicalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicalize. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
medicalize
transitive verb
med·i·cal·ize
variants
or British medicalise
ˈmed-ə-kə-ˌlīz
medicalized or British medicalised; medicalizing or British medicalising
: to view or treat as a medical concern, problem, or disorder
those who seek to dispose of social problems by medicalizing them—Liam Hudson
Liam Hudsonthe Western model of medicalized birth … in order to reduce potential risk—Judith Fitzpatrick
Judith FitzpatrickLove words? Need even more definitions?
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