as in to analyze
to identify and examine the basic elements or parts of (something) especially for discovering interrelationships
if you anatomize the problem, you'll see it stems from a combination of her bad behavior and your unwillingness to speak to her about it
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Recent Examples of anatomize
The critic will anatomize the subject from several angles.
—
WIRED, 23 Feb. 2023
Her article deftly anatomizes Russia’s failures, but also goes into alarming depth about how the military leadership can call on hundreds of thousands of recruits, and better exploit the resources of a vast country to inflict greater pain on Ukraine.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2023
All of these exhibitions leave one feeling slightly guilty: The curators try to anatomize how power works, the strategies of mythmaking and image management, but the material on view is so seductive one forgets the larger intellectual construct.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2022
The film joins countless other creative efforts to understand and anatomize the movie star born Norma Jeane Mortensen, including biopics, TV series, biographies, photo books, essays, and even plays.
—Nathan Smith, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2022
In The Rings of Saturn, W. G. Sebald anatomizes this depiction of a celebrated anatomy lesson, observing the improbably formal clothing of the men surrounding the prone cadaver, who wear opulent lace ruffs, while Tulp himself sports a wide-brimmed and high-crowned hat.
—Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 12 Sep. 2022
And some of it was a compulsive need to re-define and re-anatomize what Carmichael and Hamilton had already defined and anatomized so well.
—Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 1 Apr. 2021
Kundera, meanwhile, made his career on novels that anatomized kitsch and subsequently became kitsch, thanks to a generation of earnest high schoolers.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 9 Oct. 2019
This is just one of many intergenerational failings that Kafka anatomizes.
—Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 18 June 2018
WIRED, 23 Feb. 2023
Her article deftly anatomizes Russia’s failures, but also goes into alarming depth about how the military leadership can call on hundreds of thousands of recruits, and better exploit the resources of a vast country to inflict greater pain on Ukraine.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2023
All of these exhibitions leave one feeling slightly guilty: The curators try to anatomize how power works, the strategies of mythmaking and image management, but the material on view is so seductive one forgets the larger intellectual construct.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2022
The film joins countless other creative efforts to understand and anatomize the movie star born Norma Jeane Mortensen, including biopics, TV series, biographies, photo books, essays, and even plays.
—Nathan Smith, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2022
In The Rings of Saturn, W. G. Sebald anatomizes this depiction of a celebrated anatomy lesson, observing the improbably formal clothing of the men surrounding the prone cadaver, who wear opulent lace ruffs, while Tulp himself sports a wide-brimmed and high-crowned hat.
—Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 12 Sep. 2022
And some of it was a compulsive need to re-define and re-anatomize what Carmichael and Hamilton had already defined and anatomized so well.
—Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 1 Apr. 2021
Kundera, meanwhile, made his career on novels that anatomized kitsch and subsequently became kitsch, thanks to a generation of earnest high schoolers.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 9 Oct. 2019
This is just one of many intergenerational failings that Kafka anatomizes.
—Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 18 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anatomize
Verb
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This article was generated by the Bay Area Home Report Bot, software that analyzes home sales or other data and creates an article based on a template created by humans.—
Bay Area Home Report,
Mercury News,
4 June 2026
-
The Lipoprotein Insulin Resistance (LP-IR) Test estimates the body’s response to insulin by analyzing patterns in blood fats and assigning a score from zero to 100.—
Samantha Agate,
Sacbee.com,
4 June 2026
Verb
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Previous online bullying prompts statement Concern over Annis' previous affiliations are just the tip of the iceberg of how carefully dissected Love Island contestants become.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
2 June 2026
-
The Louis-Lestat romance fans love to dissect is far from over.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Point guard Jalen Brunson has returned to sitting on the Knicks' bench since his knee was examined in the team's locker room.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
4 June 2026
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The cost of silence First, the researchers examined direct defenses—the chemical and physical changes the plant undergoes to make its leaves less palatable for caterpillars and thus hamper their growth.—
Jacek Krywko,
ArsTechnica,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Anatomize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anatomize. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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