prioritize
/pɹaɪˈoɹ.ə.taɪz/verb
prioritize is spelled P-R-I-O-R-I-T-I-Z-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, prioritize means “To value, do, or choose something first, or before other things” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prioritize?
| Letters | 10: P-R-I-O-R-I-T-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is prioritize?
Prioritize appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th 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 prioritize?
- UK /pɹaɪˈɒɹ.ə.taɪz/
- UK [pɹaɪˈɒɹ.taɪz]
- US /pɹaɪˈoɹ.ə.taɪz/
Prioritize has 4 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-prioritize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prioritize
- prioritizes present, singular, he/she/it
- prioritizing participle, present
- prioritized participle, past
- prioritise UK
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prioritize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To value, do, or choose something first, or before other things.
When I don't have time to buy everything at the store, I prioritize fresh fruit and vegetables over foods like rice or noodles.
- 2
To arrange or list a group of things in order of priority or importance.
- 3
To rank something as having high priority.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prioritize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prioriser |
| German | nach Wichtigkeit aufreihen, nach Wichtigkeit anordnen , priorisieren, vorrangig behandeln, den Vorrang geben |
| Portuguese | priorizar |
| Spanish | priorizar, anteponer |
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 prioritize come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).