# prioritize

/pɹaɪˈɔɹəˌtaɪz/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/prioritize
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. to treat as most important

verb · CEFR B2

to choose one thing as more important than others and deal with it first.

For teachers: to assign a high status of importance to a specific task or goal, ensuring it receives attention before others.

- You need to prioritize your health over your work if you want to recover.
- The department must prioritize the safety of its staff before considering any expansion of the current project timeline.

### 2. to organize by importance

verb · CEFR B2

to put a list of things in order of how important they are.

For teachers: to arrange a set of items or tasks into a structured sequence based on their urgency or significance.

- I spent the morning prioritizing my emails so I could answer the urgent ones first.
- The software allows project managers to prioritize incoming tickets based on the severity of the reported technical issues.

## Examples

- You need to prioritize your health over your work.
- The manager asked the team to prioritize the urgent client requests before finishing the internal report.
- In a crisis, emergency services must prioritize life-saving interventions over the preservation of property to ensure the most effective use of limited resources.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.