specialized

[ spesh-uh-lahyzd ]

adjective

1. invested with a special character or restricted to a special function or field of activity:

   He campaigned for a specialized burn department to be established at the hospital.

   The humanities, once a highly specialized pursuit, have rapidly become a much broader conversation.

2. Biology. (of an organism or organ) adapted to a special function or environment:

   If the coastal sage scrub were to vanish, so would these specialized species of insects that are dependent on it.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of specialize.

Other Word Forms

• non·spe·cial·ized especially British, non·spe·cial·ised adjective
• o·ver·spe·cial·ized especially British, o·ver·spe·cial·ised adjective
• un·spe·cial·ized especially British, un·spe·cial·ised adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of specialized¹

specialize ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

“Parents have never extended support of this scale and frequency before,” Dr. Michael Kane, a psychiatrist specialized in family medicine, told Salon in an email response to the survey.

From Salon

“We have building space we don’t pay rent for. There are the refrigeration services and the ventilation services we need to do our specialized work. Our indirect costs go to support that.”

From Los Angeles Times

The battery brining liquid is a hazardous waste product too and is trucked to another specialized facility, the agency said.

From Los Angeles Times

Given the years-long staffing shortage, he said, deputies should not be diverted away from contract cities to staff specialized teams such as the Mental Evaluation Team.

From Los Angeles Times

“We don’t have the specialized manufacturing for all of these supply chains, and certainly not at cost in the U.S.”

From Los Angeles Times