as in divides
to cause (people) to break up into opposing groups
A hot button issue that is sure to polarize the public.
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Recent Examples of polarizes
As the labor market polarizes, some voices are recasting gender equity itself as a problem.
—
Jane Sadowsky, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Content that outrages, polarizes or triggers anxiety keeps us watching.
—Avital Pardo, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Jane Sadowsky, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Content that outrages, polarizes or triggers anxiety keeps us watching.
—Avital Pardo, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polarizes
divides
Verb
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Food apartheid in Metcalfe Park Census data show how sharply the food access crisis divides Milwaukee.—
April Quevedo,
jsonline.com,
7 Nov. 2025
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What divides him from Burton is that Hopkins, by a miracle, summoned the clarity to renounce his own destruction.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Polarizes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polarizes. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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