as in to analyze
to identify and examine the basic elements or parts of (something) especially for discovering interrelationships
if you anatomize the problem, you'll see it stems from a combination of her bad behavior and your unwillingness to speak to her about it
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Recent Examples of anatomize
In The Rings of Saturn, W. G. Sebald anatomizes this depiction of a celebrated anatomy lesson, observing the improbably formal clothing of the men surrounding the prone cadaver, who wear opulent lace ruffs, while Tulp himself sports a wide-brimmed and high-crowned hat.
—
Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 12 Sep. 2022
Her article deftly anatomizes Russia’s failures, but also goes into alarming depth about how the military leadership can call on hundreds of thousands of recruits, and better exploit the resources of a vast country to inflict greater pain on Ukraine.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2023
The critic will anatomize the subject from several angles.
—WIRED, 23 Feb. 2023
All of these exhibitions leave one feeling slightly guilty: The curators try to anatomize how power works, the strategies of mythmaking and image management, but the material on view is so seductive one forgets the larger intellectual construct.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2022
The film joins countless other creative efforts to understand and anatomize the movie star born Norma Jeane Mortensen, including biopics, TV series, biographies, photo books, essays, and even plays.
—Nathan Smith, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2022
And some of it was a compulsive need to re-define and re-anatomize what Carmichael and Hamilton had already defined and anatomized so well.
—Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 1 Apr. 2021
Kundera, meanwhile, made his career on novels that anatomized kitsch and subsequently became kitsch, thanks to a generation of earnest high schoolers.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 9 Oct. 2019
This is just one of many intergenerational failings that Kafka anatomizes.
—Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 18 June 2018
Will Self, Harper's Magazine, 12 Sep. 2022
Her article deftly anatomizes Russia’s failures, but also goes into alarming depth about how the military leadership can call on hundreds of thousands of recruits, and better exploit the resources of a vast country to inflict greater pain on Ukraine.
—David Remnick, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2023
The critic will anatomize the subject from several angles.
—WIRED, 23 Feb. 2023
All of these exhibitions leave one feeling slightly guilty: The curators try to anatomize how power works, the strategies of mythmaking and image management, but the material on view is so seductive one forgets the larger intellectual construct.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2022
The film joins countless other creative efforts to understand and anatomize the movie star born Norma Jeane Mortensen, including biopics, TV series, biographies, photo books, essays, and even plays.
—Nathan Smith, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2022
And some of it was a compulsive need to re-define and re-anatomize what Carmichael and Hamilton had already defined and anatomized so well.
—Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 1 Apr. 2021
Kundera, meanwhile, made his career on novels that anatomized kitsch and subsequently became kitsch, thanks to a generation of earnest high schoolers.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 9 Oct. 2019
This is just one of many intergenerational failings that Kafka anatomizes.
—Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 18 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for anatomize
Verb
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The design fluency test had proved to be a good marker of intelligence on the soccer field in previous studies, with higher scores indicating players who had superior skills in developing strategy and analyzing the play around them.—
Christiane Gelitz,
Scientific American,
7 Feb. 2025
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This article was generated by the Kansas City Star Bot, artificial intelligence software that analyzes structured information from TomTom and applies it to templates created by journalists in the newsroom.—
Kansas City Star Bot,
Kansas City Star,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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For more on Severance, sign up for Severance Club, our subscriber-exclusive newsletter obsessing, dissecting, and debating everything about season two.—
Brian Grubb,
Vulture,
7 Feb. 2025
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The film has been dissected down to the decision to film Emilia Pérez in France rather than Mexico even though the film might not have gotten made otherwise.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
5 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Through fiscal year 2023, the IRS examined 0.44% of individual returns filed for tax years 2013 through 2021, according to the latest IRS Data Book.—
Kate Dore, CFP®, EA,
CNBC,
15 Feb. 2025
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Yes, the Reputation Management system examines your social media accounts, but Social Media Monitoring in the main IDShield app has a different purpose.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
15 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near anatomize
Cite this Entry
“Anatomize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anatomize. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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