Meaning & use
categorize
Last updated
Meaning
verbtransitive
To put people or things into groups based on what they have in common.
Grammar: Takes an object, often followed by as or into: categorize books by subject, categorize something as useful.
Patterns
- categorize something as something
- categorize something into groups
- categorize something by something
The librarian categorized the books by subject.
We categorized the complaints into three types.
Many critics categorize the film as a comedy.
Word forms
| third person singular | categorizes |
|---|---|
| past tense | categorized |
| past participle | categorized |
| -ing form | categorizing |
Common combinations
- categorize by
- The files are categorized by date.
- categorize as
- The agency categorized the fire as accidental.
- categorize into
- She categorized her notes into themes.
- hard to categorize
- His music is hard to categorize.
- easily categorized
- The plants are easily categorized by leaf shape.
Synonyms and how they differ
- classify
- Classify implies using a formal system or set of rules, while categorize can be looser.
- sort
- Sort is the everyday word for arranging things into groups and sounds less formal than categorize.
- group
- Group simply puts things together, without naming labeled categories.
- label
- Label can suggest placing an unfair or oversimplified tag on someone, which categorize does not.
Opposites
Word family
- category noun
- a group of things with shared features
- categorization noun
- the act of sorting into groups
- categorical adjective
- absolute and without exceptions, as in a categorical denial
- uncategorized adjective
- not placed in any group
Commonly confused: categorize or catalog? categorize or categorical?
categorize vs catalog
To catalog is to list items in order, while categorize is to sort into groups.
categorize vs categorical
Categorical means absolute or without conditions, not related to sorting.
Practice
The store ___ its products by price range so shoppers can find what they need.
Choose one answer.
Categorizes means sorts into groups, which suits organizing products. The other verbs do not describe sorting.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “categorize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.