vulgarize
vulgarize Lexical Profile
vulgarize Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To make crude, coarse, or unrefined; to spoil or lower the artistic, moral, or intellectual quality of something.
"Critics argued that the commercial adaptation sought to vulgarize a deeply philosophical novel for mass entertainment."
To make a complex, technical, or specialized subject accessible and understandable to the general public; to popularize (often with the implication of oversimplifying).
"His series of public lectures helped to vulgarize nineteenth-century evolutionary theory for lay audiences."
Word Nuance & Usage
While usually pejorative in modern English—implying that something refined has been cheapened or made crude—'vulgarize' can also be used neutrally in academic contexts (similar to French 'vulgariser') to mean popularizing complex scientific or scholarly knowledge for the general public.
• Rhymes for vulgarize
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the late 18th century from the adjective 'vulgar' (from Latin 'vulgaris', meaning 'of the common people', derived from 'vulgus', 'the common crowd') combined with the verbal suffix '-ize'.