radicalize

present singular third person radicalizes · participle present radicalizing · participle past radicalized · past radicalized · alternative radicalise

1. transitiveTo make radical.

   The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to radicalize the whole society, to create mass participation at all levels of decision-making, and to restore the revolutionary élan of the 1940s.

   1971, Deborah S. Davis, “The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan”, in The Cultural Revolution in the Provinces, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 159

   2 more examples

   Described by witnesses as a keen cricketer and pubgoer until contacts with Islamic militants radicalized him on a trip to Pakistan, he was ordered to serve at least 14 years for the plot, and for supplying militants in Afghanistan with money and equipment.

   2008 February 19, John F. Burns, “Britain: Life Sentence in Beheading Plot”, in The New York Times

   It’s been called “one of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the 21st century,” “a petri dish of divisive, conspiratorial and sometimes hateful content,” and a tool that “drives people to the internet’s darkest corners.”

   2019 March 29, Kevin Roose, “YouTube’s Product Chief on Online Radicalization and Algorithmic Rabbit Holes”, in The New York Times

2. intransitiveTo become radical; to adopt a radical political stance.

   He’s a delight and provides a little break in one’s timeline between heart-stopping political developments, at least until he himself radicalizes, which is bound to happen soon, because he is a French bulldog.

   2017 March 7, Caitlin Lovinger, “A Deadly Sin”, in The New York Times