industrialised

industrialised — adjective

1. describing a country, region, or economy where factories and large-scale manufac

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

describing a country, region, or economy where factories and large-scale manufacturing contribute a major share of economic activity, and traditional farming or craft work is no longer the main source of income or employment.

Example

Sirin grew up in a small town far from the industrialised cities on the coast.

attributive use: industrialised + noun (cities)

Industrialised nations usually have better roads, hospitals, and schools than countries still based on farming.

common collocation: industrialised nation

Common collocations
  • industrialised country
  • industrialised nation
  • industrialised economy
  • industrialised society
  • highly industrialised
  • heavily industrialised
  • newly industrialised
  • rapidly industrialised
  • fully industrialised
Synonyms
  • developed

    broader term that includes economic, social, and political advancement; 'industrialised' focuses specifically on the role of manufacturing

  • manufacturing-based

    more technical and less common in everyday speech; describes the same economic structure

  • mechanised

    refers to the use of machines in production rather than the overall economic structure; a narrower concept

Antonyms
  • agricultural

    describes an economy centred on farming rather than factories

  • pre-industrial

    describes a society before the widespread use of factories and machines

  • undeveloped

    broader opposite; implies low overall economic development, not just lack of industry

Grammar Patterns

industrialised + noun

become/get + industrialised

Usage Note

British spelling variant of 'industrialized'. Both spellings are correct; '-ised' is standard in British English, while '-ized' is more common in American English. Learners should use one spelling consistently.

Common Mistakes

Japan is a strong industrialised country.
Japan is a highly industrialised country.
'highly' is the standard adverb used with 'industrialised'; 'strong' is not idiomatic here.
The industrialised process takes three days.
The industrial process takes three days.
'industrialised' describes an entire economy or region, not a single procedure; use 'industrial' for processes and methods.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Industrialised' and 'developed' overlap but are not interchangeable. 'Developed' (B1) covers a broad range of economic, social, and infrastructure indicators — a country can be developed without being heavily industrialised (e.g., New Zealand's tourism- and agriculture-based economy). 'Industrialised' (C1) is narrower, focusing specifically on the dominance of factories and manufacturing. 'Mechanised' (C1) is narrower still, referring to the use of machines in a particular process rather than the whole economy — a farm can be mechanised without the country being industrialised. 'Modernised' (B2) implies updating old systems with new technology, which may or may not involve large-scale industry. For everyday use: say 'industrialised country' when you mean manufacturing is central; say 'developed country' when you mean high standard of living and infrastructure in general.

industrialised ↗developed ↗mechanisedmodernised

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • the industrialised world
  • newly industrialised economy
  • less industrialised regions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed from 'industry' (from Latin 'industria', meaning diligence or hard work) plus the suffix '-al' (making an adjective, 'industrial'), plus '-ise' (a verb-forming suffix based on French '-iser'), plus '-ed' (past participle suffix used as an adjective). The '-ise' spelling follows the British English convention, which corresponds to the '-ize' spelling favoured in American English. The word entered common use during the 19th-century Industrial Revolution to describe nations whose economies had shifted from agriculture to factory-based manufacturing.