civilizing

verb

present participle of civilize
as in cultivating

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for civilizing
  1. cultivating
  2. urbanizing
Verb
  • The Justice Department also says Beijing is determined to sway American public opinion in its favor by cultivating relationships with political figures seen as having access to the levers of power.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Community organizations spent decades cultivating wealthy baby boomer donors, and so that connection fades with each generation removed from the original donors.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of cultivating
Verb
  • Sub-Saharan Africa has both the most rapidly urbanizing population on Earth and the youngest.
    — Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Aug. 2026
  • If appropriate action is not taken, economic growth in urbanizing cities will continue to happen at the cost of the less fortunate.
    — Chloe Wong, Hartford Courant, 16 Mar. 2026
Definition of urbanizing
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.

Browse Nearby Words

civilizes
civilizing
civilly
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Civilizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civilizing. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All