psychologize

[ sahy-kol-uh-jahyz ]

verb (used without object)

, psy·chol·o·gized, psy·chol·o·giz·ing.

1. to make psychological investigations or speculations, especially those that are naive or uninformed.

psychologize

/ saɪˈkɒləˌdʒaɪz /

verb

1. to make interpretations of behaviour and mental processes
2. to carry out investigation in the field of psychology

Other Words From

• psy·cholo·gizer noun
• over·psy·cholo·gize verb overpsychologized overpsychologizing

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychologize¹

First recorded in 1820–30; psycholog(y) + -ize

Example Sentences

He oozes capability, of the mental and physical sorts, and though he has a tragic backstory he doesn’t seem particularly marked by it, as much as other characters might want to psychologize him.

From Los Angeles Times

As often as not, his portraits suppress our impulse to psychologize by showing their subjects dead-eyed or asleep.

From Washington Post

In any case, it’s dramatically counterproductive to humanize or psychologize him, though Bang does at least try to bring some shading to a thoroughly despicable character; he plays him as soft-spoken, letting his height and weight comprise an implicit threat against the the small, reed-thin Duff.

From Los Angeles Times

He developed psychological behaviorism, which included elements such as emotion and personality, to “behaviorize psychology and to psychologize behaviorism,” as his view is often explained.

From Washington Post

Secondly, there's what I call the "trust gap," this tendency to dismiss or normalize and psychologize women's reports of their symptoms.

From Salon