Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

minimize

/ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.80 in modern English

Syllables: min-i-mize
IPA: /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/

21

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To make (something) smaller or as small as possible; shrink; reduce.

Transitive verb

verb

To relegate or assign (something) to a less insignificant status; diminish.

Transitive verb

verb

To remove (a window) from the main display area, collapsing it to an icon or caption.

Transitive verb

verb

To treat (someone) in a slighting manner.

Transitive verb

verb

To treat as trivial or insignificant; to trivialize.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"We have to minimize the budget."
"Try to minimize your biases."
"Terry, author of the indispensable Terry's Guide to Mexico, has a name for it – atrabiliousness. "The defect of many of the murals," he says, speaking of those in the orphan asylum, "is the facial atrabiliousness of some of the subjects. To the observer it minimizes the grandeur of the conception […]""
"For accurate stopping, the drive must incorporate means for minimizing inertia overdrift."
"One way to minimize or mitigate the copycat effect is to deemphasize the perpetrator and deglorify the violence in real and fictional stories."
"The insurance adjuster tried to minimize the extent of the damage to lessen the company's exposure to liability."

Etymology

From Latin minimus + -ize.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/
British English: /ˈmɪn.ɪ.maɪz/

Usage

Transitive verb

Inflected Forms

minimizes (present, singular) minimizing (participle, present) minimized (participle, past) minimized (past) minimise (alternative)

Derived Forms

minimand minimizable minimization minimizer unminimize unminimized

Synonyms

besmall smallify abase abate belittle bring down embase cut decrease decrement diminish foreshorten

Antonyms

maximize

Questions

How do you pronounce minimize?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/.
What does minimize mean?: To make (something) smaller or as small as possible; shrink; reduce.
Where does minimize come from?: From Latin minimus + -ize.

How to pronounce minimize

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “minimize”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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