Meaning & use
polarization
Last updated
Division into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions, especially on a political or social issue.
See it in a sentence
Political polarization has made bipartisan compromise increasingly rare.
The debate over the new policy caused deep polarization within the community.
A note on using this word
Also has a technical meaning in physics, referring to the orientation of light waves, but in social and political writing it almost always means a split into opposing camps.
Words with a similar meaning
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Words with an opposite meaning
Another way to use it
2. noun
The confining of the vibrations of a transverse wave, such as light, to a single plane.
Polarized sunglasses reduce glare by filtering light based on its polarization.
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