finalize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(tr) to put into final form; settle
to finalize plans for the merger
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(intr) to complete arrangements or negotiations; reach agreement on a transaction
Spelling
See -ize.
Usage
Although finalize has been in widespread use for some time, many speakers and writers still prefer to use complete, conclude , or make final , esp in formal contexts
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has finalizedperfect 3rd person singular
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have finalizedperfect
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have been finalizingperfect progressive
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is finalizingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are finalizingprogressive
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has been finalizingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am finalizingprogressive 1st person singular
-
finalizingparticiple
-
finalizessingular 3rd person
Past
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had finalizedperfect
-
had been finalizingperfect progressive
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were finalizingprogressive plural
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was finalizingprogressive singular
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finalizedparticiple
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finalizedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of finalize
Explanation
When you put the finishing touches on something, such as agreeing on a specific time and place to meet your friend on Saturday, you finalize your plans. The word finalize is relatively new, and often people choose to use the words conclude or complete instead, maybe because finalize seems a little fake to them. In the 1920s, an Australian writer took the word final, meaning the very last, and the suffix -ize, and stuck them together to make finalize. Before long it showed up in dictionaries, and the invention of the word was finalized.
Vocabulary lists containing finalize
This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for December 19–25, 2020
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 10–November 16, 2024
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ize
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The process -- and the sheer size of the state of 40 million people -- means California is always slow to finalize results, a fact that frustrates voters of all stripes.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
Mr. Clinton pardoned him before Justice could finalize an agreement in which he would plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay a $5,000 fine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
Crude-oil prices in the U.S. and internationally tumbled to their lowest levels of the session on Friday as President Donald Trump called a meeting to help finalize a deal with Iran.
From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026
Still, China’s Commerce Ministry characterized the results as preliminary in nature, adding that negotiators from the two sides are working to finalize details of the agreed-upon points.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
He needed only to tweak a radical to finalize the formula.
From "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
