SPIRITUALIZE Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

spiritualize

verb

Definition of spiritualize

as in to sanctify

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of spiritualize None of this is intended to take away from the ambivalent and sometimes plainly harmful effects of attempts to spiritualize the pandemic. — Benjamin Kirby, Quartz Africa, 1 May 2020 Thought and speech — thought’s public projection — are both combined and spiritualized. — Brian T. Allen, National Review, 22 June 2019 The biblical Song of Solomon is a key scripture for the Zohar, and its lush gardens of desire are spiritualized into realms of sacred love, but without losing anything of their erotic passion. — Arthur Green, The Atlantic, 25 Aug. 2017

Recent Examples of Synonyms for spiritualize

Verb

Guns became sacred, and violence was increasingly justified, if not sanctified.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2026
The church has always preached that humans are created in God’s image; by assuming the messy fragility of human form, God’s son sanctified human experience.

— Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of sanctify

Verb

Jordan has one of the oldest Christian communities, and the country takes its name from the river that runs along its border with Israel and the West Bank, where Jesus is believed to have been baptized.

— Mohamad El Chamaa, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
According to tradition, the day after she was baptized, her cradle was surrounded by a mysterious swarm of white bees, which entered her mouth, but didn't harm her or even wake her up.

— Adam Harrington, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of baptize

Verb

In Sugar Land, Texas, a 90-foot statue of the deity Hanuman, consecrated in 2024 at a temple complex, continues to draw disparaging comments, including one YouTube personality who recently urged its demolition.

— ABC News, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026
The King’s wife, Queen Mette-Marit, is also expected to be consecrated during the ceremony.

— Meredith Kile, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of consecrate

Verb

At London’s Clarify Clinics, founder Yael Cohen has developed the controversial Clari Procedure, a patented two-hour IV treatment that claims to purify the blood plasma.

— Tracy Achonwa, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026
BioFiltro, a company founded in Chile, puts red wigglers in a bed of chips to purify wastewater from dairy stalls.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of purify

Verb

Today’s anti-frizz formulas are lighter than ever, from sulfate-free shampoos that cleanse without stripping to featherlight leave-ins, heat-protecting mists, and bond-building treatments that strengthen strands from within.

— Valeriya Chupinina, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026
Going winless for an entire season — rebuild or not — would produce a level of shame that doesn’t get cleansed from your resume.

— Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of cleanse

Verb

But whether in Frankfurt or, later, Weimar — where Soviet officials are as keen to canonize Thomas — this father and daughter aren’t simply driving through Germany but taking a tour across fascism’s long shadow, which still darkens the world.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
That may be true in universities where the evaluative component is elided because the literature being discussed has been canonized.

— Lola Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of canonize

Verb

Yet, these grounds were hallowed to the African American community.

— Chip Colwell, The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2025
In a new political environment in which none of the new leaders could claim to be revolutionary founding fathers, Deng’s blessing hallowed Jiang and Hu and helped ensure that each survived the vicissitudes of succession politics.

— Jonathan A. Czin, Foreign Affairs, 21 Oct. 2025

Definition of hallow

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“Spiritualize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spiritualize. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of spiritualize

verb

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