temporize
verb
Mary Austin
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Is it Time to temporize?
Temporize comes from the Medieval Latin verb temporizare ("to pass the time"), which itself comes from the Latin noun tempus, meaning "time." Tempus is also the root of such words as tempo, contemporary, and temporal. If you need to buy some time, you might resort to temporizing—but you probably won't win admiration for doing so. Temporize can have a somewhat negative connotation. For instance, a political leader faced with a difficult issue might temporize by talking vaguely about possible solutions without actually doing anything. The point of such temporizing is to avoid taking definite—and possibly unpopular—action, in hopes that the problem will somehow go away. But the effect is often just to make matters worse.
Examples of temporize in a Sentence
IEEE Spectrum, 9 Oct. 2012
Accompanying these principles must be a rejection of the impulse to temporize about the dangers that confront us and a rejection of the bizarre deprecation of our nation and civilization.
—Peter J. Travers, National Review, 29 Mar. 2022
Even groups long noted for opposing nuclear power, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Sierra Club, seem quietly ready to temporize on practical matters, such as allowing existing plants to continue as transitional energy sources.
—Andrew Cockburn, Harper’s Magazine , 4 Jan. 2022
But in the aftermath of the Georgia victories, which gave their party control of the Senate, congressional Democrats were in no mood to temporize.
—Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2021
Otherwise, the overriding temptation will be to delay, to temporize.
—Noam Cohen, WIRED, 18 July 2019
Successive political generations of leaders of nuclear powers have temporized impotently or even mischievously assisted these elements, as Pakistan has assisted Iran and North Korea, who have assisted each other.
—Conrad Black, National Review, 21 Sep. 2017
This is a president who, when Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons on his people, did not temporize.
—Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 5 July 2017
Cite this Entry
“Temporize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/temporize. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
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temporize
verb
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