Dictionary

minimize en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmɑɪz/ (Australia)
• /ˈmɪn.əˌmaɪz/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/ (General-American)
• /ˈmɪn.ɪˌmaɪz/ (Canada)
• /ˈmɪn.ɪ.maɪz/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Latin minimus + -ize.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To make (something) smaller or as small as possible; shrink; reduce.
   • We have to minimize the budget.
   • For accurate stopping, the drive must incorporate means for minimizing inertia overdrift. 1954, Instruments and Control Systems - Volume 27, page 1466:
   • Try to minimize your biases.
   • One way to minimize or mitigate the copycat effect is to deemphasize the perpetrator and deglorify the violence in real and fictional stories. 2023, Jacqueline B. Helfgott, Copycat Crime:
   • Terry, author of the indispensable Terry's Guide to Mexico, has a name for it – atrabiliousness. "The defect of many of the murals," he says, speaking of those in the orphan asylum, "is the facial atrabiliousness of some of the subjects. To the observer it minimizes the grandeur of the conception […]" 1948, Willard Price, Roving South, Rio Grande to Patagonia, New York, N.Y.: J. Day Co., →OCLC, page 13:
2. (transitive) To relegate or assign (something) to a less insignificant status; diminish.
   • The insurance adjuster tried to minimize the extent of the damage to lessen the company's exposure to liability.
3. (transitive) To remove (a window) from the main display area, collapsing it to an icon or caption.
   • I didn't close anything, but I minimized all the windows so I could see the desktop.
4. (transitive) To treat (someone) in a slighting manner.
   • […] father who had never openly minimized him or anything he did […] 1993, Jan McDaniel, One Golden Summer, page 95:
5. (transitive) To treat as trivial or insignificant; to trivialize.
   • to minimize someone's feelings

Forms

Antonyms

maximize · maximize

Deriveds

unminimized · unminimize · minimand · minimizer · minimizable · minimization

Synonyms

lilliputianize · derogate · lessen · bagatellize · downplay · dispraise · disparage · cut · banalize · de-emphasize · smallify · set at nought · superficialize · decrease · cut · degrade · lessen · mince · bring down · embase · denigrate · besmall · abate · besmall · lower · understate · smallify · vilipend · smallify · lilliputianize · foreshorten · besmall · underplay · shrink · abase · lessen · lilliputianize · make little of · abase · foreshorten · cut down · reduce · minimize · deprecate · disparage · reduce · play down · make nothing of · lower · belittle · play down · shrink · abate · decrease · decrement · minimize · mince · bring down · lower · minimize · reduce · embase · decrement · diminish · banalize · belittle · underestimate · diminish · trivialize · belittle

Translations (59)

tr küçültmek (to make small as possible) · hy նվազեցնել ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · fi pienentää ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · ga íoslaghdaigh (to make small as possible) · ru своди́ть к ми́нимуму (to make small as possible) · ru минимизи́ровать ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · ca minimitzar (to make small as possible) · la abscondo ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · uk мінімізува́ти (to make small as possible) · es achicar (to make small as possible) · cs minimalizovat (to make small as possible) · ga íosmhéadaigh (to make small as possible) · tr en aza indirgemek (to make small as possible) · bg затварям ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · th ย่อ (to make small as possible) · tr azaltmak (to make small as possible) · pt minimizar (to make small as possible) · mi whakamōkito (to make small as possible) · tr en aza indirgemek (to make small as possible) · mi whakamōkito ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · de minimieren (to make small as possible) · fr minimiser (to make small as possible) · el ελαχιστοποιώ (to make small as possible) · sv minimera ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · cmn 最小化 ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · ca minimitzar ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · la obscuro ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · ko 최소화(最小化)하다 (to make small as possible) · et minimaliseerima (to make small as possible) · bg минимизирам (to make small as possible) · ru минимизи́ровать (to make small as possible) · gl minimizar ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · tr küçült ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · fi vähätellä (to make small as possible) · it minimizzare (to make small as possible) · fi minimoida (to make small as possible) · ru сверну́ть ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · cmn 最小化 (to make small as possible) · hy նվազեցնել (to make small as possible) · fr réduire ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · de minimieren ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · et ahendama ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · pl minimalizować (to make small as possible) · ru свора́чивать ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · bg намалявам (to make small as possible) · hy նվազագույնի հասցնել (to make small as possible) · sv dölja ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · tr asgarīye indirmek (to make small as possible) · ko 최소화(最小化)하다 ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · ja 最小化する ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · tr simge durumuna küçült ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · es minimizar (to make small as possible) · es minimizar ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · ja 最小化する (to make small as possible) · tr cüceleştirmek (to make small as possible) · th ย่อ ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · pl zminimalizować (to make small as possible) · pt minimizar ((computing) to cause a window to disappear) · sv minimera (to make small as possible)