You’re staring at a tile rack. It's frustrating. You’ve got an 'A', a 'Z', and a handful of vowels that look like a bowl of alphabet soup. Most people immediately hunt for "Azone" or "Adz," but if you’re trying to actually describe an action, your options for verbs starting with az are weirdly slim. It’s a linguistic cul-de-sac. Honestly, the English language didn't do us many favors here. Most "Az" words are nouns—think Azimuth or Azure—and turning them into actions feels like a grammatical workout.
Languages evolve. Sometimes they leave gaps.
When we talk about verbs starting with az, we aren't just looking at dictionary entries. We’re looking at how a specific phonetic combination—that buzzy, sharp 'Z' following a flat 'A'—has struggled to find a foothold in common English speech. It feels foreign. It feels technical. And yet, for poets, coders, and high-stakes word gamers, these verbs are the "break glass in case of emergency" tools of the trade.
Why English Hates Verbs Starting With Az
Basically, it’s a Greek and Persian problem. A lot of our "Az" words come from Arabic roots (al-sumūt) or Persian (lāzhward), which typically describe things or places rather than movements. In Germanic roots, which give us most of our "doing" words (run, hit, sleep), the 'Az' combination is almost non-existent.
✨ Don't miss: Decoracion para bautizo de niña: lo que casi nadie te dice sobre planificar un evento con alma
You’ve probably noticed that when you do find one, it sounds like something out of a chemistry lab or a Renaissance fair.
Take Azotize. It’s a real verb. It means to treat or saturate something with nitrogen. If you’re a gardener or a chemist, you might actually use this. But for the rest of us? It sounds like a sci-fi villain’s superpower. "I’m going to azotize your crops!" doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue during a casual brunch. Yet, if you’re writing technical documentation or a highly specific scientific paper, precision matters. You can't just say "add nitrogen." You need the verb.
The Azure Controversy: Can You Use It As a Verb?
Here’s where things get dicey. Most dictionaries list Azure as a noun or an adjective. However, in the world of poetic license and heraldry, people have been trying to make "to azure" happen for centuries.
It means to color something blue.
If you look at 19th-century literature, you'll find writers who weren't afraid to bend the rules. They’d describe a sky that "azured" the reflecting lake below. Is it common? No. Is it technically "correct" in a standard SAT essay? Probably not. But in the realm of creative expression, verbs starting with az like this offer a specific texture that "blueing" just can't match. "Blueing" sounds like a laundry mistake. "Azuring" sounds like a masterpiece.
The Technical Heavyweights: Azurate and Azotize
If you’re looking for "real" verbs—the kind that won't get you laughed out of a linguistics symposium—you have to look at the sciences.
👉 See also: Sketching the Skies: How to Draw a Pterodactyl Without Looking Silly
- Azurate: This one is obscure. It refers to the act of treating something with an azurate (a salt of azuric acid).
- Azotize: As mentioned, this is the big one. It’s also known as nitrifying in some contexts, though the chemical processes differ slightly.
Let's be real: you aren't using these while texting your mom. But in the niche world of industrial manufacturing, especially in the 20th century, these were the verbs that defined production lines. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the usage of "azotize" peaked in the late 1800s and has been on a slow, steady decline ever since. We just don't talk about nitrogen saturation like we used to.
The Scrabble Factor
Let’s talk about the only reason 90% of people search for verbs starting with az: winning a game.
If you’re playing Scrabble or Words with Friends, you’re often desperate. You have the 'Z'. It’s worth 10 points. You need to dump it.
Azure (if your house rules allow the verb form) is a 14-point play before any bonuses.
Azotize is a massive 26-point base score. If you can land that 'Z' on a triple letter score and the whole word on a double word score? That's a game-ender.
The problem is the suffix. To make these work, you usually need an "-ize" or an "-ate." That requires a lot of tiles. Most of the time, users find themselves looking for a short, punchy verb. They want something like "Aze."
Spoiler: "Aze" isn't a word. Don't try it. Your friends will call you out, and you'll lose your turn.
💡 You might also like: Why She Just Started Liking Cheatin Songs and What it Actually Means
The Global Influence: When English Borrows
Sometimes, the best verbs starting with az aren't strictly English in origin, but they've been "naturalized."
Take Azan.
Technically, an Azan is the Islamic call to prayer. In some linguistic circles, "to azan" has been used colloquially to describe the act of performing that call. While it’s primarily a noun, the transition from noun to verb (a process called "verbing" or functional shift) happens constantly in multicultural communities.
Then there's the Spanish influence.
English speakers in the Southwest often encounter "Azorar." In Spanish, it means to embarrass, confuse, or even terrify. While it hasn't fully leapt across the fence into standard English dictionaries, you’ll hear it in Spanglish dialects from Texas to California. "Don't azorar me" might not be "proper" English, but language is a living, breathing thing. It doesn't wait for permission from a dictionary.
Why We Struggle to Create New "Az" Verbs
We love making new verbs. We Google things. We Uber places. We even "adult" when we're feeling particularly responsible. So why haven't we birthed a new verb starting with az in the digital age?
Maybe it's the phonetics.
The 'Az' sound is "heavy." It stops the breath. It’s not "slick" like S verbs or "punchy" like P verbs. It feels ancient. When we hear "Az," our brains go to the Aztecs or the Azure coast. We think of history and geography, not action and movement.
Misconceptions and Fake Verbs
Be careful. The internet is full of "word lists" that include total nonsense. You might see "Azurate" (real), but you'll also see things like "Azle" or "Azify."
"Azify" sounds like it should be real, right? To make something azure? It's not. If you use it in a professional setting, you'll look like you're trying too hard to be Hemingway. Stick to the classics, even if the classics are rare.
Practical Usage: When to Actually Use These
So, how do you actually use a verb starting with az without sounding like a robot?
- In Poetry: Use Azure as a verb to describe the transformation of light. "The evening sun azured the mountain peaks." It’s evocative. It’s bold.
- In Science Writing: Use Azotize when you specifically mean nitrogen treatment. Don't use it as a fancy synonym for "fertilize." They aren't the same thing.
- In Gaming: Keep Azotize in your back pocket for that 'Z' tile. It’s your "get out of jail free" card.
The Actionable Insight: Expanding Your Lexicon
Honestly, you probably won't use verbs starting with az every day. And that’s okay. The value of these words isn't in their frequency; it's in their specificity.
If you want to improve your writing or your vocabulary, don't just memorize a list. Understand the "why." Understand that "Azotize" is about chemistry and "Azure" is about color and art.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of "Z" words, your next step is to look at the "Iz" suffixes. Many verbs that start with other letters end up using that 'Z' sound anyway (like Analyze or Baptize).
Next Steps for You:
Check your current manuscript or project. Are you overusing "blue" or "nitrogen-rich"? Try swapping in a more precise verb. If you're a gamer, memorize the spelling of Azotizing—it uses eight letters and can bridge two premium squares on a standard board. Finally, stop trying to make "Az" happen in casual conversation unless you're prepared for some very confused looks from your coworkers. Language is about communication, not just showing off your knowledge of the 'Z' section of the dictionary.