Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tarbellize

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: tar-bel-lize
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To criticize through investigatory journalism.

American usage; Archaic; Obsolete; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"The agencies of the Central States have been "Tarbellized" this month. Now watch the returns."
"At this stage we must take a risk; / We may full soon be Tarbellized, / Or through exposures blunt and brisk / Be quite completely Lawsonized."
"Shirley worked deviously, of course. Having, under a name not her own, achieved fame by Tarbellizing the plutocrat in a book, and having (still in disguise) been given by the simple minded great man command of his most private papers […]"
"[T]he time was when the public feeling against the Standard Oil has been Tarbellized and Lawsonized into almost a fever-heat."

Etymology

From Tarbell + -ize, after Ida Tarbell, author of The History of the Standard Oil Company, a book that heavily criticized John D. Rockefeller and his monopolistic practices.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: Tarbell

Usage

Inflected Forms

Tarbellizes (present, singular) Tarbellizing (participle, present) Tarbellized (participle, past) Tarbellized (past)

Questions

What does tarbellize mean?: To criticize through investigatory journalism.
Where does tarbellize come from?: From Tarbell + -ize, after Ida Tarbell, author of The History of the Standard Oil Company, a book that heavily criticized John D. Rockefeller and his monopolistic practices.

How to pronounce tarbellize

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tarbellize”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tarbellize”.
Repeat and practice — Say “tarbellize” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.