prioritize
transitive verb prioritized, prioritizing
- to arrange (items) in order of priority
- to assign (an item) to a particular level of priority
See prioritize in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(prī-ôrˈĭ-tīzˌ, -ŏrˈ-)
verb pri·or·i·tized,
pri·or·i·tiz·ing,
pri·or·i·tiz·es Usage Problem verb, transitive To arrange or deal with in order of importance.
verb, intransitive To put things in order of importance: “Everyone should take time to be alone, to prioritize and meditate” (Art Linkletter).
Related Forms:
- pri·orˌi·ti·zaˈtion (-tĭ-zāˈshən) noun
Usage Note: It can be argued that
prioritize serves a useful function in providing a single word to mean “arrange according to priority,” but it is often regarded as corporate or bureaucratic jargon. Resistance to
prioritize, however, has fallen dramatically in recent decades. In 1976, 97 percent of the Usage Panel rejected its use in the phrase
a first attempt to prioritize the tasks facing the new administration. By 1997, however, 53 percent of the Panel approved the use of
prioritize in the sentence
Overwhelmed with work, the lawyer was forced to prioritize his caseload. This suggests that, like
finalize, prioritize is rapidly securing a place in our everyday vocabulary. See Usage Note at
finalize.
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