prioritize
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to choose one thing as more important than others and deal with it first.
to assign a high status of importance to a specific task or goal, ensuring it receives attention before others.
Simple“You need to prioritize your health over your work if you want to recover.”
In context“The department must prioritize the safety of its staff before considering any expansion of the current project timeline.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
to put a list of things in order of how important they are.
to arrange a set of items or tasks into a structured sequence based on their urgency or significance.
Simple“I spent the morning prioritizing my emails so I could answer the urgent ones first.”
In context“The software allows project managers to prioritize incoming tickets based on the severity of the reported technical issues.”
“Rather than focusing on only the most nutrient-dense greens, experts advise prioritizing variety.”
“Daniel Garrido/Moment via Getty Images Other research shows that men and women approach friendships differently and prioritize different things when making same-sex friends.”
From priority + -ize. First attested in 1967 as U.S. government jargon, becoming more widespread through the 1970s and ’80s, but still denounced as officialese by purists into the 1990s.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.