How to Use sensationalize in a Sentence

sensationalize

verb
  • Journalists should report the news accurately without trying to sensationalize it.
  • Sauceda said that while there is some truth to the claim in the video, it’s sensationalized and more likely just set up in a way to stop you from scrolling and scare you.
    — Eleesha Lockett, Verywell Health, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The violence is not sensationalized, where nothing comes of it.
    — ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
  • However, there are and always will be those who choose to believe the tabloids’ sensationalized version of events.
    — Sam Reed, Glamour, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The media wants to sensationalize because Usain Bolt is a hero and that is fine.
    — Sara Germano, WSJ, 5 Aug. 2017
  • That’s an important thing, to not sensationalize it and not glorify it.
    — Mark Hughes, Forbes.com, 14 May 2026
  • What happened next will be difficult to capture in a way that doesn’t sensationalize the details of the attack.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2026
  • And yet Arnett, rather than using taxidermy to sensationalize this process, presents the craft as a moving testament to what art cannot do.
    — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2019
  • One of the things that really compelled me about this season was Sam has not sensationalized the important issues of drug use.
    — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 1 June 2026
  • The king of Haiti’s tragic death is one of the most dramatized, and sensationalized, episodes in Haitian history.
    — Marlene L. Daut september 22, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Recently a story about her mother's house being for sale mentioned how her mother died by sensationalizing it in the headline.
    — Nicole Villalpando, Austin American-Statesman, 9 Mar. 2024
  • The tragic reason why RFK’s campaign ended is well known, and this show doesn’t sensationalize it at all.
    — courant.com, 23 Sep. 2020
  • Burgess generally thinks the trend is harmless, as long as the programs don’t romanticize or sensationalize the killers.
    — Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 11 July 2024
  • For Johnson, police have to balance not sensationalizing these teen takeovers, while also not writing them off as kids being kids.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 9 May 2026
  • Watkins later retracted her statements after she was sensationalized by the media.
    — Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 6 Oct. 2025
  • Her father blames the media’s tendency to sensationalize stories for the error.
    — Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 24 July 2014
  • The couple were creatively brave and honest enough to trust Jones to depict that without sensationalizing it.
    — Matt Wake | [email protected], al, 9 Apr. 2023
  • Malice chooses not to sensationalize the moment.
    — Isabella Wandermurem, Time, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Studies have found that people who watch a lot of local news, in which crime is often sensationalized, tend to get a distorted view of how dangerous their neighborhood is.
    — Zeynep Tufekci, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Many claim to have knowledge but lack any connection to the truth, while their wild, unfounded theories are cut and sensationalized to appear factual.
    — Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025
  • To that end, her drama resists sensationalizing the Barnetts’ claims, and then rejects them all together.
    — Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Mar. 2025
  • Though each character deals with their individual issues, it’s all done in a matter that doesn’t sensationalize struggle.
    — Rivea Ruff, Essence, 1 Apr. 2022
  • Research suggests that news stories that report in detail on, among other things, the method used, can sensationalize suicide and increase the risk of similar deaths.
    — Amanda Gardner, Health.com, 12 June 2018
  • Bear attacks are largely over reported, and often sensationalized, in the media, escalating our fear of bears.
    — Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
  • In addition to recentering the story, the new show shies away from violence on screen, so as to avoid sensationalizing Gacy.
    — Lex Goldstein, PEOPLE, 13 Nov. 2025
  • Despite every effort to sensationalize the mystery at the series' center, there simply isn't enough story to justify eight episodes.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 19 June 2020
  • The stories that are being fabricated to sensationalize this.
    — CBS News, 25 Jan. 2018
  • Madison brings unrelenting vigor to the sort of character who is normally marginalized or sensationalized on the screen.
    — Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2025
  • Critics of the law argue that drag shows are being sensationalized and negatively portrayed for political points.
    — Kiara Alfonseca, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Your responsibility is to inform and educate the public, not to sensationalize fake stories for the sake of ratings.
    — Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sensationalize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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