Word family noun popularity ≠ unpopularity popularization adjective popular ≠ unpopular verb popularize adverb popularly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpopularizepop‧u‧lar‧ize (also popularise British English) /ˈpɒpjələraɪz $ ˈpɑː-/ verb [transitive] 1 POPULARto make something well known and liked Bob Marley popularized reggae music in the 1970s.2 CLEAR/EASY TO UNDERSTANDto make a difficult subject or idea able to be easily understood by ordinary people who have no special knowledge about it Skinner was the psychologist who popularized behavior modification. —popularization /ˌpɒpjələraɪˈzeɪʃən $ ˌpɑːpjələrə-/ noun [uncountable]→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
popularize• Post-war architects, amongst whom Frederick Gibberd was soon prominent, popularized a style which drew on many influences.• They went on to popularize bluegrass, becoming favorites on the college circuit.• Self-service supermarkets were first popularized by businessman Clarence Saunders.• Self-service shopping was popularized by Clarence Saunders.• Frozen food has greatly increased in popularity ever since Clarence Birdseye popularized frozen peas during the 1920s.• The protein-sparing modified fast was popularized in the form of liquid protein diets.• What Watergate did do, though, was to popularize investigative reporting and bring it into the mainstream.• Architects and critics with purist views were suspicious of Hill, but he helped to popularize the modern style.• They are especially skilled at popularizing the technical aspects of genetics.• To help popularize them, he was sending specimens to a few lucky customers for showroom display. 