Meanings
present singular third person weaponizes · participle present weaponizing · participle past weaponized · past weaponized · alternative weaponise
- BritishEnglishOxfordUStransitiveTo make into a weapon.
Anything can be weaponized. A big enough rock, dropped from a sufficient height, is a very good weapon.
5 more examples
The writer has to an unusually high degree the gift of being able to coin a telling phrase, though I do not like the verb in the sentence "However unassailable their arguments may be they could not weaponize their strength."
1938, Scottish Geographical Magazine, volume 54, page 119Though most Russian efforts unveiled thus far seem to have been aimed at weaponizing the far right, the existence of BlackMattersUS indicates Russian agents were equally motivated to infiltrate the far left in order to amplify partisan divides that would simultaneously energize Trump’s base and disillusion Hillary’s.
2017 October 18, Maya Kosoff, “The Russian troll farm that weaponized Facebook had American boots on the ground”, in Vanity Fair, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2018They have weaponized social media. They have weaponized the First Amendment. They have weaponized civic discourse. And they have weaponized, most of all, politics.
2018 August 2, Kara Swisher, “The Expensive Education of Mark Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2020"Our CEQA process is clearly broken when a few wealthy Berkeley homeowners can block desperately needed student housing for years and even decades," Newsom's office said in a statement. "California cannot afford to be held hostage by NIMBYs who weaponize CEQA to block student and affordable housing. This selfish mindset is driving up housing prices, and making our state less affordable."
2023 March 1, Aaron Kliegman, “Newsom declares war on environmentalists seeking to halt construction project”, in Fox News, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023[I]f you’re against the weaponization of the Justice Department because you think it was weaponized against you, then you don’t make the situation worse by weaponizing it against your opponents.
2025 January 27, Cameron Joseph, “John Bolton says he’s faced Trump’s retribution. He worries what Kash Patel might do.”, in The Christian Science Monitor, spoken by John Bolton, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2025 - BritishEnglishOxfordUStransitiveTo make more effective as a weapon.
To weaponize anthrax it is made more distributable, not more virulent.
Origin
From weapon + -ize. First use appears c. 1938. See cite below.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto armiliĝi, armiĝi
- armiliĝimake into a weapon
- armiĝimake into a weapon
Finnish tehdä ase, käyttää aseena
- tehdä asemake into a weapon
- käyttää aseenamake into a weapon
- aseellistaamake into a weapon
French arsenaliser
- arsenalisermake into a weapon
German zu einer Waffe machen, in eine Waffe verwandeln
- zu einer Waffe machenmake into a weapon
- in eine Waffe verwandelnmake into a weapon
- als Waffe verwendenmake into a weapon
- als Waffe benutzenmake into a weapon
Hungarian fegyverként használ
- fegyverként használmake into a weapon
Italian utilizzare come arma, trasformare in arma
- utilizzare come armamake into a weapon
- trasformare in armamake into a weapon
Korean 무기화(武器化)하다
- 무기화(武器化)하다 (mugihwahada)make into a weapon
Russian использовать как оружие
- использовать как оружие (ispolʹzovatʹ kak oružije)make into a weapon
Spanish utilizar / instrumentalizar como arma, convertir / transformar en arma
- utilizar / instrumentalizar como armamake into a weapon
- convertir / transformar en armamake into a weapon
- instrumentar un arma conmake into a weapon
- usar en contra demake into a weapon
- esgrimirmake into a weapon
- armamentizarmake into a weapon
Swedish göra till ett vapen, vapenisera
- göra till ett vapenmake into a weapon
- vapeniseramake into a weapon
Cite this entry
weaponize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weaponize
“weaponize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weaponize. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “weaponize,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weaponize.
Source: weaponize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.