Dictionary

weaponize en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɛpənaɪz/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From weapon + -ize. First use appears c. 1938. See cite below.

Meanings

1. (British, English, Oxford, US, transitive) To make into a weapon.
   • They 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:
   • Though 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 2018:
   • 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 119:
   • [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:
   • Anything can be weaponized. A big enough rock, dropped from a sufficient height, is a very good weapon.
   • "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:
2. (British, English, Oxford, US, transitive) To make more effective as a weapon.
   • To weaponize anthrax it is made more distributable, not more virulent.

Forms

Deriveds

deweaponize · weaponizer · weaponizable

Relateds

beweapon · weaponization

Translations (26)

fi tehdä ase (make into a weapon) · sv göra till ett vapen (make into a weapon) · eo armiliĝi (make into a weapon) · sh pretvoriti u oružje (make into a weapon) · fi aseellistaa (make into a weapon) · sv vapenisera (make into a weapon) · it utilizzare come arma (make into a weapon) · ko 무기화(武器化)하다 (make into a weapon) · es utilizar / instrumentalizar como arma (make into a weapon) · de als Waffe verwenden (make into a weapon) · de zu einer Waffe machen (make into a weapon) · es armamentizar (make into a weapon) · de in eine Waffe verwandeln (make into a weapon) · sh veponizirati (make into a weapon) · fr arsenaliser (make into a weapon) · it trasformare in arma (make into a weapon) · hu fegyverként használ (make into a weapon) · eo armiĝi (make into a weapon) · fi käyttää aseena (make into a weapon) · es usar en contra de (make into a weapon) · sh upotrijebiti kao oružje (make into a weapon) · es instrumentar un arma con (make into a weapon) · es esgrimir (make into a weapon) · es convertir / transformar en arma (make into a weapon) · de als Waffe benutzen (make into a weapon) · ru использовать как оружие (make into a weapon)