Radicalising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The transformation that leads individuals to adopt extreme beliefs or ideologies occurs through various practices or influences, significantly impacting their perspectives or actions
2. This involves fostering a shift towards more extreme political or social ideologies in individuals or groups, often altering their fundamental values or beliefs
3. The process of causing someone to adopt views far from the mainstream, often altering their political or social attitudes

Etymology: Radicalising is the present participle of "radicalise", which the source builds from "radical" plus the suffix "-ise". The suffix has a long ancestry: it travels from ancient Greek "-izein", through Late Latin "-izare", into Middle French "-iser", and then into Middle English "-isen". Adding it to an adjective produces a verb meaning "to make or become" something, so "to radicalise" means to make someone radical. The base word is the more striking part. "Radical" comes from Latin "radix", meaning "root", so a radical was originally someone who went to the root of things. For centuries that sense stayed fairly neutral, referring to fundamental change or going to the origin of a problem. Only later did it come to describe political reformers pushing for sweeping change, and the verb built on it followed that path. The "-ise" spelling is the British form. The same process produces "radicalize" in American English.

Synonyms: extremizing

Antonyms: moderating