Meaning & use
minimize
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To make something as small or as low as possible.
Grammar: Takes an object: minimize risk, minimize waste.
Patterns
- minimize something
- minimize the risk of something
We tried to minimize the cost of the trip.
Wear a helmet to minimize the risk of injury.
The new design minimizes waste.
verbtransitivedisapproving
To treat something as less important or serious than it really is.
Grammar: Takes an object and often suggests unfair downplaying: minimize a problem.
Patterns
- minimize something
- minimize the importance of something
Do not minimize her achievement.
The manager tried to minimize the mistake.
He minimized his role in the project.
verbtransitive or intransitivecomputing
To shrink a computer window so it moves out of sight without closing.
Grammar: You minimize a window; a window can also minimize.
Patterns
- minimize a window
Minimize the browser to see the desktop.
The window minimizes to the taskbar.
She minimized the video call during the meeting.
Word forms
| third person singular | minimizes |
|---|---|
| past tense | minimized |
| past participle | minimized |
| -ing form | minimizing |
Common combinations
- minimize the risk
- Regular checks minimize the risk of failure.
- minimize costs
- The company aims to minimize costs.
- minimize damage
- Sandbags helped minimize damage from the flood.
- minimize waste
- Careful planning will minimize waste.
- minimize the importance
- Don't minimize the importance of sleep.
- minimize a window
- Minimize the window if you need more space.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reduce
- Reduce means to make smaller by any amount, while minimize means to make as small as possible.
- downplay
- Downplay is for making something seem less important, not for actually reducing it.
- decrease
- Decrease is a general word for getting smaller and does not imply a lowest possible amount.
- play down
- Play down is a more casual phrasal form of downplay and refers only to the importance sense.
Opposites
Word family
- minimum noun
- the smallest amount possible
- minimal adjective
- very small in amount
- minimization noun
- the act of making as small as possible
- minimalist adjective
- using very little, in a simple style
Commonly confused: minimize or minimalize? minimize or diminish?
minimize vs minimalize
Minimalize is a rare variant. Minimize is the standard form.
minimize vs diminish
Diminish means to become smaller on its own, while minimize means to act to make something as small as possible.
Practice
Which action best shows trying to minimize a risk?
Choose one answer.
Wearing a seatbelt lowers the chance or harm of an accident, which is minimizing. The other options leave the risk unchanged or increase it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “minimize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.