as in to popularize
to use so much as to make less appealing
the composer's masterpiece has been hopelessly vulgarized by its use in countless TV commercials
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vulgarize
His versions were full-blooded, with lush strings and reasonably large orchestras — and, purists alleged — vulgarizing distortions.
—
BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2019
Ever since his rise to power, Trump has served as a vulgarizing agent.
—Leon Neyfakh, Slate Magazine, 2 June 2017
BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2019
Ever since his rise to power, Trump has served as a vulgarizing agent.
—Leon Neyfakh, Slate Magazine, 2 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vulgarize
Verb
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The news highlights a movement to popularize a gesture to signal distress to passersby.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
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Open innovation, popularized by Procter & Gamble’s Connect and Develop program in the late ‘90s, tapped outside partners for breakthroughs and fueled at one time over half of its new products.—
Robert B. Tucker,
Forbes.com,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But while working mom and trad wife stereotypes reign online and in popular culture, many moms fall somewhere in between those two tropes.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
31 Aug. 2025
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These words have different meanings in the context of AAVE, some say, and using them in a way that appropriates or stereotypes certain people groups strips away the importance of the original definitions.—
Mia Thurow,
jsonline.com,
20 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The redemption story is overused in sports, but Anisimova coming back from a double-bagel Wimbledon final defeat against Iga Świątek to beat the same player a couple of months later was extraordinary.—
The Athletic Tennis Staff,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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Meanwhile, resharing others’ posts or overusing carousels significantly underperforms.—
Justin Nassiri,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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United’s decade-plus of footballing dysfunction owes a partial debt to hiring processes that can make sense in the moment, but leave head coaches overexposed.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
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If most of your liabilities reprice simultaneously, you’re overexposed.—
Meelan Gupta,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The classes are highly scripted and, in my opinion, boring.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
25 Aug. 2025
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In the early episodes, when everyone’s still getting to know each other, are the conversations boring?—
Scottie Andrew,
CNN Money,
24 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vulgarize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vulgarize. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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