as in dividing
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 polarizing
Creed’s newest masterwork blends smoky agarwood oil distilled from 80-year-old trees with ambergris and saffron, producing a scent that tempers oud’s somewhat polarizing character with a sense of restraint.
—
Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2025
The verdict came two days after Trump spoke at a memorial service for the popular but polarizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, whose murder on a Utah college campus this month has ratcheted up anxieties about political violence in the United States.
—Corky Siemaszko, NBC news, 24 Sep. 2025
Universal child care shouldn’t be a polarizing political issue.
—Yasser Salem, Fortune, 21 Sep. 2025
And does the wild card that his older brother Andrew is in the middle of a polarizing New York mayoral race factor in?
—Erik Hayden, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for polarizing
Justin Fenner, Robb Report, 30 Sep. 2025
The verdict came two days after Trump spoke at a memorial service for the popular but polarizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, whose murder on a Utah college campus this month has ratcheted up anxieties about political violence in the United States.
—Corky Siemaszko, NBC news, 24 Sep. 2025
Universal child care shouldn’t be a polarizing political issue.
—Yasser Salem, Fortune, 21 Sep. 2025
And does the wild card that his older brother Andrew is in the middle of a polarizing New York mayoral race factor in?
—Erik Hayden, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for polarizing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polarizing
dividing
Verb
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Now dividing her time between New York and Santiago, she is known for works responding to the Indigenous culture of Chile and to the economic, political, environmental, and gender disparities that arise within societies.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
10 Oct. 2025
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Specifically, Lecornu demands all issues currently dividing the National Assembly into three factions be brought to parliamentary debate.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Polarizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polarizing. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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