transitive verb

• 1Characterize (a quality or trait) as fundamental or intrinsic to a particular type of person or thing.

  More example sentences

  • ‘this approach is controversial because it could essentialize the ‘peaceful’ nature of women’

  1. 1.1Portray or explain (a particular type of person or thing) in terms of one or more stereotypical or supposedly intrinsic traits.
     More example sentences

     • ‘nineties culture, over time, has been essentialized into a few symbols’