fetishize

verb

fe·​tish·​ize ˈfe-ti-ˌshīz How to pronounce fetishize (audio)
 also  ˈfē-
fetishized; fetishizing

transitive verb

: to make a fetish of : treat or regard with fetishism

Examples of fetishize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In a country that fetishizes productivity, the beach celebrates the absence of achievement. David Litt, Time, 28 July 2025 If Welch’s considerable foibles have been dropped from the legend, the timeline bungled, the alcoholism and probable mental illness minimized, the use of racial epithets and the overt misogyny ignored, his death fetishized into a form of transfiguration . . . Brendan Fitzgerald, Longreads, 26 June 2025 Here was a country that demanded movement, that fetishized the pioneering spirit, yet my family in South Asia had, during the 1947 partition of India, known far more upheaval within living memory than my husband’s. Andrew Moore, New York Times, 15 May 2025 Magazine editors weren’t the only highfalutin New Yorkers who fetishized the Post. Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 5 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for fetishize

Word History

First Known Use

1884, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fetishize was in 1884

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Cite this Entry

“Fetishize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fetishize. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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