To problematize something is to treat it as a problem — to stop taking it as normal, simple, or fine, and to start asking what is wrong with it, or what it hides. University writing loves this verb. A teacher might problematize a story in a textbook: maybe the story looks harmless, but it leaves someone out. Though actually, people sometimes problematize things that were not really problems, and then the word can sound like a clever way of picking a fight. In the fields that use it, the point is often the opposite of fuss: it is to notice something everyone else is skipping. It is formal, a university word, and rare in daily talk. British spelling is often problematise.