maximize
/ˈmæksəmaɪz/verb
maximize is spelled M-A-X-I-M-I-Z-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “maximise vs maximize” about 10 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, maximize means “To make as large as possible” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in maximize?
| Letters | 8: M-A-X-I-M-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is maximize?
Maximize appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce maximize?
- /ˈmæksəmaɪz/
Maximize has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-maximize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with maximize
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: maximise.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of maximize
- maximizes present, singular, he/she/it
- maximizing participle, present
- maximized participle, past
- maximise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does maximize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make as large as possible.
I need to maximize performance.
- 2
To expand (a window) to fill the main display area.
Since I only have one window open, I maximized the window so that the desktop is not visible.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Maximize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to make as large as possible:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | maximiser |
| German | maximieren |
| Portuguese | maximizar |
| Spanish | maximizar, extremar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does maximize come from?
From Latin maximus + English -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).