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The process of thermalization of a hot subexcitation photoelectron in polar medium is studied. The master equation is used as a starting point to derive analytic expression for the thermalization distances distribution function. The resulting expression depends upon the mechanism of energy dissipation via the first two moments of the energy loss probability. Asymptotic decay of the distribution with the distance depends on the character of electron motion (exponential for the ballistic motion; Gaussian for the diffusion). A general scheme was developed for evaluation of the energy loss probability within the framework of the linear response theory. Explicit results are derived for electron thermalization in polar medium whose dissipative properties are characterized by the Debye macroscopic dielectric susceptibility function (the Fröhlich–Platzman model). Comparison of the estimates of thermalization distance in water …