pathologize

verb

pa·​thol·​o·​gize pə-ˈthä-lə-ˌjīz 

pathologized; pathologizing

transitive verb

: to view or characterize as medically or psychologically abnormal

natural hormonal shifts have been pathologized

—Joyce C. Mills

Examples of pathologize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These three words served both to definitively pathologize her and to place her mental health on an ascending scale, one that coincidentally meant that mine and our other brother’s childhood—being cared for by this troubled if charismatic woman—was also, in his opinion, necessarily . . . —Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024

That meant pathologizing drug use, Regina Davis Moss, a public health scholar and president of In Our Own Voice, a reproductive justice organization, tells Rolling Stone. —Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 22 Sep. 2024

The two were easy scapegoats in a media culture and news environment that often pathologized Black masculinity as deviant and dangerous. —Brandon Harris, The New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2024

Soufan, however, passes over almost all discussion of religion and tends to pathologize religious sentiment in glib tones. —Graeme Wood, Foreign Affairs, 15 Aug. 2017

Word History

Etymology

pathology + -ize

First Known Use

1649, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

pathologize

transitive verb

pa·​thol·​o·​gize

variants or chiefly British pathologise

-ˌjīz

pathologized or chiefly British pathologised; pathologizing or chiefly British pathologising

: to view or characterize as medically or psychologically abnormal

natural hormonal shifts have been pathologized

—Joyce C. Mills

pathologizing childhood behavior

—Ruth Shalit

pathologization noun

or chiefly British pathologisation

pə-ˌthäl-ə-jə-ˈzā-shən