to vulgarize
1
8.4
- verb
- /ˈvʌlɡəˌraɪz/
- US
:
vulgarizar
- Critics argue that reality TV shows vulgarize the representation of real life.
- vulgarized society
Examples
-
Here was a building, they chided, full of baroque pastiches for bourgeois delectation and idle diversion, a monument that vulgarized public art by placing it in the service.
Academic text (1993) -
Perhaps his thought is prone to being "vulgarized" in either of these two ways.
Academic text (1999) -
The point about L-O-V-E is that we hate the word, because we've vulgarized it.
-
Those who would distort our revolutionary history debase and vulgarize our people.
Fiction book (1992) -
This profit-driven boosterism tends to vulgarize the museum incidentally, at the very time that left-minded curators celebrate vulgarity deliberately.
Academic text (1992) -
Many commercials vulgarize the message to attract a broader audience.
-
Some artists fear that their work may be vulgarized in the pursuit of profit.
Synonyms
55
5.1
To treat someone so they feel ashamed or less respected
21
4.2
To make an idea, activity, or subject known and liked by many people
18
6.7
To make something for sale or use it mainly to make money
5
4.6
To change something so many people can understand and use it
4
8.2
To make something lower quality by changing it from its original form
To make a difficult idea simple so more people can understand it
Antonyms
How Refined
93
4.0
248
3.3
99
2.5
- US
1
8.4
- Informal
15
5.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Vulgarize comes from the Latin vulgus, meaning 'the common people', so it originally meant 'make common' or 'for everyone'. That's why to vulgarize a book or idea is to make it less refined and simpler so it can reach a wider audience.