MEANING
1. Make an amount, risk, or effect as small as practical or intended.
2. Present something as less serious or important than it is.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- minimize risk
- minimize disruption
On the page
The revised schedule minimized disruption to patients.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- minimize
- Past tense
- minimized
- Past participle
- minimized
- Present participle
- minimizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- minimize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are minimizing
- Present perfect
- have/has minimized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been minimizing
- Past
- minimized
- Past continuous
- was/were minimizing
- Past perfect
- had minimized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been minimizing
- Future
- will minimize
- Future continuous
- will be minimizing
- Future perfect
- will have minimized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been minimizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: minimize; minimizes; minimized; minimized; minimizing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, explanation, evaluation. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: minimizes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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