institutionalized

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Firmly established as a normal and accepted part of a system or society, often so deeply that it is hard to change.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after become: institutionalized racism, it became institutionalized.

   Patterns

   • institutionalized discrimination
   • become institutionalized

   Critics said bribery had become institutionalized in the department.

   The company's unfair hiring habits were institutionalized over decades.

   Institutionalized gaps in funding keep some schools behind.

2. 2adjectivecomparablemedical

   Living in a hospital, prison, care home or similar place, especially for a long time.

   Grammar: Used about people, before a noun or after be: an institutionalized patient, she was institutionalized.

   Patterns

   • institutionalized patients
   • be institutionalized

   She was institutionalized as a teenager after a severe illness.

   Institutionalized residents have fewer chances to choose their daily routine.

   The study followed institutionalized children over ten years.

3. 3adjectivecomparableinformal

   So used to life in an institution that a person finds it hard to cope or make decisions outside it.

   Grammar: Often applies to people after long periods in prison or care.

   Patterns

   • become institutionalized

   After thirty years inside, he felt institutionalized and lost in the outside world.

   Long hospital stays left her institutionalized and anxious about choices.

   He admitted he had become institutionalized in the army.

Common combinations

institutionalized racism

The report examined institutionalized racism in the justice system.

institutionalized discrimination

Laws can create institutionalized discrimination.

become institutionalized

After years in prison, he became institutionalized.

institutionalized care

Institutionalized care is expensive and sometimes impersonal.

fully institutionalized

The practice is now fully institutionalized across the industry.

Synonyms and how they differ

entrenched

Entrenched means deeply and stubbornly fixed in place, and it is not limited to formal systems.

systemic

Systemic describes problems built into a whole system, while institutionalized stresses that they have been made an official or standard part.

established

Established is neutral and positive, while institutionalized often suggests something hard to question.

confined

Confined describes people kept in a place, and it does not imply long-term dependence on routine.

Opposites

Word family

institution noun

an established organization or custom

institutionalize verb

to make something an established practice, or to place someone in care

institutionalization noun

the process of becoming institutionalized

institutional adjective

relating to an institution

Commonly confused: institutionalized or institutional?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “institutionalized”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words