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

The Trapped in Paradise actor then marveled at how the artist revolutionized contemporary pop music. —Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025

Last year, Clark joined The ANNIKA pro-am after revolutionizing women's sports worldwide with her historic performances in both college basketball and the WNBA. —Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025

Spanx revolutionized the intimate apparel industry and created an entirely new category of shapewear. —Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2025

The company has been taking some pages out of the book of SpaceX, which has revolutionized access to the final frontier and was the first space company to start building a commercial vehicle that wasn't designed and developed by NASA. —Andrew Jones, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2025

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