VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

publicized

verb·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˈpʌblɪsaɪzd/
US/ˈpʌbləsaɪzd/

“publicized” is a form of “publicize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.

Meaning

  1. verbtransitive

    Made something widely known to the public, especially through media or advertising.

    Grammar: The object is the thing made known: publicize an event. Passive: the event was publicized.

    Patterns

    • publicize something
    • be publicized in something
    • widely publicized

    The new recycling program was publicized on local radio and in the newspaper.

    They publicized the charity concert through social media and posters.

    The scandal was widely publicized, so everyone knew about it within hours.

Word forms

third person singularpublicizes
past tensepublicized
past participlepublicized
-ing formpublicizing

Common combinations

widely publicized
The trial was widely publicized, attracting reporters from many countries.
publicize an event
The school publicized the science fair to get more visitors.
highly publicized
The highly publicized product launch drew huge crowds.
publicize a campaign
Volunteers publicized the anti-litter campaign across the city.

Synonyms and how they differ

advertise
Often implies paid promotion; publicize is broader and can include free media coverage.
promote
Focuses on making something more popular or successful; publicize focuses on making it known.
announce
Means to make a formal statement; publicize suggests spreading the information more widely over time.

Opposites

concealsuppress

Word family

publicity noun
Attention given to someone or something by the media.
publicist noun
A person whose job is to publicize people or events.
public adjective
Open to or concerning everyone.

Commonly confused: publicized or publicised? publicized or published?

publicized vs publicised

British spelling of the same word; American English uses 'publicized' with a z.

publicized vs published

Published means printed and made available, especially a book or article; publicized means made widely known.

Practice

Choose the correct sentence.

Make it your own

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

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words