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.
Has this led me to fetishize my own ignorance over the years? Jon Raymond august 5, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2025 In a country that fetishizes productivity, the beach celebrates the absence of achievement. David Litt, Time, 28 July 2025 Nineteenth-century Americans and Europeans collected locks of hair from the living and the dead alike, fetishizing these keepsakes. Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 21 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 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 10 Sep. 2025.

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