Meaning & use
westernised
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“westernised” is a form of “westernise”.
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Having taken on ideas, customs or lifestyles that come from Europe and North America.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a westernised city, the city is westernised; can take more or very.
Patterns
- a westernised society
- become westernised
The city's westernised shopping malls sit beside traditional markets.
Her family felt that the westernised diet had changed their health.
Younger people are often more westernised than their grandparents.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of westernise: to make something adopt Western customs, ideas or styles.
Grammar: Takes an object: the reforms westernised the economy.
Patterns
- westernised something
The new policies westernised the country's education system.
Colonial rule westernised parts of the local economy.
Common combinations
- westernised lifestyle
- A westernised lifestyle can mean more fast food.
- increasingly westernised
- The region has become increasingly westernised.
- heavily westernised
- A heavily westernised city may lose some local traditions.
- westernised version
- The restaurant serves a westernised version of the dish.
- westernised culture
- They study how a westernised culture can blend with local customs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Americanized
- Americanized is narrower, referring only to American influence, while westernised covers Europe and North America.
- modernized
- Modernized means updated in general and does not imply any specific culture.
- cosmopolitan
- Cosmopolitan is mostly positive and means shaped by many cultures, whereas westernised names one source of influence.
- Europeanized
- Europeanized refers only to European influence and is much rarer than westernised.
Opposites
Word family
- westernise verb
- to make Western in style
- westernisation noun
- the process of becoming Western in style
- western adjective
- relating to the West
- westerner noun
- a person from a Western country
Commonly confused: westernised or western?
westernised vs western
Western describes something from the West. Westernised describes something that has been changed to become more like the West.
Practice
Many visitors say the old district has become ___, with global chain stores replacing family shops.
Choose one answer.
Westernised means having adopted Western styles over time. Western only describes something from the West and does not suggest change.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “westernised”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.