memorize
gb/mˈɛmɚˌaɪz/ us/mˈɛmɚˌaɪz/
B1
English
~ 9400
Senses
0 senses
Verb
B1
action
1
Learn something so you can recall it exactly
To learn something so well that you can say or write it without looking.
Usage pattern:
to memorize [something]
Common mistake:
Learners often confuse "memorize" with "remember". "Memorize" is the active process of learning something so you can remember it later (e.g., "I will memorize this poem tonight"), while "remember" is the state of already having it in your memory (e.g., "I remember this poem"). Another mistake is saying *"memorize by heart"*, which is redundant in English; you can say either "memorize it" or "learn it by heart", but not both together in a natural way.
Synonyms
learn by heart (More idiomatic and slightly more emotional; often used for texts like poems and songs.)
|
commit to memory (More formal or literary; less common in everyday conversation.)
|
remember (Broader and more general; does not always imply deliberate effort or exact recall like "memorize".)
Antonyms
forget (Opposite result: to be unable to remember something that was known before.)
|
improvise (Opposite approach with speeches or performances: to speak or act without preparing or memorizing words in advance.)
Collocations
memorize a poem
|memorize a speech
|memorize vocabulary
|memorize lines
|memorize facts
|memorize a phone number
Themes
education
|cognition
|daily_life
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- I had to memorize twenty new vocabulary words for the test.
- She memorized her lines for the play over the weekend.
- He can memorize phone numbers after hearing them only once.
- The students were asked to memorize a short poem in English.
- I usually memorize my presentation so I don’t have to read from my notes.
Learner examples
- I need to memorize these words for tomorrow.
- She memorized the song and sang it in class.
- He memorized his speech before the meeting.
- We memorized the rules for the game.
- It is hard to memorize long numbers.
Grammar
Dictionary form
memorize
IPA
GB/mˈɛmɚˌaɪz/
US/mˈɛmɚˌaɪz/
Syllables & stress
mem - or - ize (3 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (mem)
Word forms
Verb
- Base: memorize
- 3rd Person Singular: memorizes
- Present Participle: memorizing
- Past: memorized
Word family
Forms
memorizes
verb
memorizing
verb
memorized
verb
Related words
Negative and opposite forms
unmemorable
adjective
forget
verb A2
Advanced or less common
commemorate
verb B2
commemoration
noun
Expressions
No expressions linked to this entry yet.