| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| accessorize (v.) |
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| There is nothing wrong with accessorize when it is used in the right place, as in The ensemble was accessorized to the point of gaudiness. It’s relatively new and an Americanism, however, and both those things can put some people off (as can mispronunciation: many people say uh-SES-uhr-EIZ, but only ak-SES-uhr-EIZ is Standard). Some conservatives strongly dislike new coinages like this one, made of a noun plus the verb-making -ize suffix. At present, accessorize is mainly an argot word applied only to clothing, interior decorating, and the like, but it could easily take on figurative or transferred senses for use with more general topics, even in Edited English. See AFFIX. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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