westernize
verb
west·ern·ize
ˈwe-stər-ˌnīz 
westernized; westernizing
often capitalized
: to imbue with qualities native to or associated with a western region and especially the noncommunist countries of Europe and America
: to become westernized
westernizer
noun
often capitalized
Examples of westernize in a Sentence
He decided to westernize his name after moving from Japan to Canada.
The city has begun to westernize.
Recent Examples on the Web
Officials tried to westernize him, including by attempting to comb his hair flat, and falsely told him his parents had died in a house fire.
—
Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2022
Beijing has seized on the images to portray the movement as a coddled, westernized middle class incited by foreign organizations and governments to rebel against the world’s largest communist country, China.
—Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2020
While there is a strong patriarchal and religious streak in most of Egypt, the players come from a small, somewhat privileged slice of society that is westernized.
—David Segal, New York Times, 1 Nov. 2019
Mateer | Deadspin | September 11, 2019 | 14 minutes (3,725 words)
Inside the rise of oyster shucking competitions in China, a phenomenon with its roots across the Atlantic Ocean that has found a niche within the country’s most westernized pockets.
—Longreads, 9 Sep. 2019
But Poland has slowly westernized and moved out of Moscow’s orbit.
—Alex Ward, Vox, 18 Sep. 2018
Qiu satirizes a Taiwan that was eager to westernize in the 1980s while being increasingly arrested in time.
—Ankita Chakraborty, Longreads, 8 June 2018
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of
Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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about these examples.
Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2022
Beijing has seized on the images to portray the movement as a coddled, westernized middle class incited by foreign organizations and governments to rebel against the world’s largest communist country, China.
—Washington Post, 9 Jan. 2020
While there is a strong patriarchal and religious streak in most of Egypt, the players come from a small, somewhat privileged slice of society that is westernized.
—David Segal, New York Times, 1 Nov. 2019
Mateer | Deadspin | September 11, 2019 | 14 minutes (3,725 words)
Inside the rise of oyster shucking competitions in China, a phenomenon with its roots across the Atlantic Ocean that has found a niche within the country’s most westernized pockets.
—Longreads, 9 Sep. 2019
But Poland has slowly westernized and moved out of Moscow’s orbit.
—Alex Ward, Vox, 18 Sep. 2018
Qiu satirizes a Taiwan that was eager to westernize in the 1980s while being increasingly arrested in time.
—Ankita Chakraborty, Longreads, 8 June 2018
Dictionary Entries Near westernize
Cite this Entry
“Westernize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/westernize. Accessed 16 Nov. 2024.
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