in‧sti‧tu‧tion‧al‧ized AC (also institutionalised British English) /ˌɪnstə'tjuːʃənəlaɪzd, ˌɪnstɪ'tjuːʃənəlaɪzd $ -ˈtuː-/ adjective

1. institutionalized attitudes and behaviour have existed for a long time in an organization and have become accepted as normal even though they are bad
institutionalized racism/sexism etc
institutionalized corruption within the state

2. someone who has become institutionalized has lived for a long time in a prison, mental hospital etc and now cannot easily live outside one

3. forming part of a society or system:
institutionalised democracy

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲