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Definition of "sensationalize" []

  • To cast and present in a manner intended to arouse strong interest, especially through inclusion of exaggerated or lurid details: "doubted the ability of the liberal press to handle such information fairly, to refrain from sensationalizing it” ( Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "sensationalize" in a sentence
  • "And their money has done far more than to "sensationalize" things."
  • "Let us grant for a moment that historians have been disposed to "sensationalize" Civil War casualties (though I am not sure what is to be gained by this, since the readership for histories of this war has always been robust), and that we ought to interrogate our assumptions about the war's destructiveness."
  • "Attorneys for Ambrose opposed the measures, saying that the presence of unusual security precautions would "sensationalize" the trial."