Make Your Point > Archived Issues > COMPARTMENTALIZE
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pronounce
COMPARTMENTALIZE:
Say it "come part MEN tuh lize."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
To compartmentalize things is to stick them into distinct little sections.
And to p_____hole people is to stick them into distinct little roles. Can you recall that one?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Our word "compartment" has Latin bits that mean, basically, "completely divided into parts." Compartments are little separate sections or divisions, often literal ones, like the four compartments in the drawer pictured above.
Something compartmental has compartments, or reminds you of something with compartments.
And if you compartmentalize things--usually ideas--you put them away in separate little sections of your mind instead of letting them mix, or instead of thinking about them or dealing with them.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Verb, the transitive kind: "He compartmentalized it."
Other forms:
Compartment(s), compartmental, compartmentally; compartmentalized, compartmentalizing, compartmentalization.
how to use it:
"Compartmentalize" is semi-common, pretty clear and easy to understand, but, let's admit, a bit of a mouthful. Pick it when you want to emphasize how someone is trying to impose order and organization on their thoughts, possibly in fear of facing those thoughts or of losing emotional control over them.
Talk about people compartmentalizing facts, ideas, memories, experiences, ambitions, possibilities, disappointments, relationships, aspects of their lives, etc.
examples:
"I think it's important we don't just read and compartmentalize the past as an 'interesting story.' As writers, we want readers to see that history is a key, a manual, a lesson guidebook for us to learn and implement change in our present lives."
— Sarah McCoy, as quoted by Sara Gruen, Salon, 8 February 2016
"In my capacity as a mental health provider, I have been called every name in the book, spat at and nearly assaulted. Although these experiences are never pleasant, I can intellectualize away my feelings about patients' hostile behavior: this is just a part of their illness... I find it much harder to compartmentalize my daughter's behavior as being simply a function of her stage of development."
— Arjune Rama, New York Times, 23 August 2013
has this page helped you understand "compartmentalize"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "compartmentalize" without saying "keep separate" or "stop from integrating."
try it out:
H. P. Lovecraft praised our ability to compartmentalize things:
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."
Do you agree? Does our compartmentalization of knowledge keep us sane? Why or why not?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Crossword Clues: Movie Titles!
Use the movie title as a clue to come up with a word we've studied. For example, if the clue is "The Great Escape. 6 letters. _ E C _ M _," then the answer is "DECAMP," a word meaning "to get the heck out of there." To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Enjoy!
Try this one today:
There Will Be Blood.
11 letters.
I N _ _ _ N E _ _ _ _.
review this word:
A. INKED.
B. INTEGRATED.
C. INTENSIFIED.
2.
Sometimes we compartmentalize to fend off the discomfort of _____.
A. fixations: our unhealthiest, most obsessive thoughts
B. cognitive dissonance: our principles conflicting with our behavior
C. esprit de l'escalier: thinking of the perfect response way too late
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
To compartmentalize things is to stick them into distinct little sections.
Part of speech:
"Compartmentalize" is semi-common, pretty clear and easy to understand, but, let's admit, a bit of a mouthful. Pick it when you want to emphasize how someone is trying to impose order and organization on their thoughts, possibly in fear of facing those thoughts or of losing emotional control over them.
"I think it's important we don't just read and compartmentalize the past as an 'interesting story.' As writers, we want readers to see that history is a key, a manual, a lesson guidebook for us to learn and implement change in our present lives."
Explain the meaning of "compartmentalize" without saying "keep separate" or "stop from integrating."
H. P. Lovecraft praised our ability to compartmentalize things:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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