dehumanize

1 of 2

verb

de·​hu·​man·​ize (ˌ)dē-ˈ(h)yü-mə-ˌnīz 

dehumanized; dehumanizing; dehumanizes

transitive verb

: to deprive (someone or something) of human qualities, personality, or dignity: such as

a

: to subject (someone, such as a prisoner) to inhuman or degrading conditions or treatment

"… you treat people with respect, you get respect back. You treat them like animals, you strip search them, you dehumanize them, you lock them up, you don't feed them … you are going to get that back …"

—Adelina Iftene

b

: to address or portray (someone) in a way that obscures or demeans that person's humanity or individuality

propaganda that dehumanizes the enemy

I'm always struck by the way language is used to dehumanize others.

—Anna Lind-Guzik

Treating Chicagoland violence as merely a tally necessarily dehumanizes its victims, but it also obscures so much of the larger story about that violence.

—Gene Demby

But that approach ignores the fundamental dynamics of racism, which dehumanizes people along crude lines, ignoring any internal distinctions among those with broadly similar looks, treating them all as uniformly suspicious.

—Sangay K. Mishra

c

: to remove or reduce human involvement or interaction in (something, such as a process or place)

Nurses are also fearful that the use of technology will dehumanize patient care.

—Laurie A. Huryk

Social media dehumanizes personal interactions, taking them out of the dining room, the neighborhood store and workplace and into a nowhere we call cyberspace.

—Kay S. Hymowitz

"To me, Ms. Cao [Fei] is trying to portray that, even in a dehumanized environment like the automated warehouse, you need that inspiration or that order from up high."

—David Barboza

dehumanization

(ˌ)dē-ˌ(h)yü-mə-nə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

dehumanization

2 of 2

noun

de·​humanization (¦)dē+ 

plural -s

: the act or process or an instance of dehumanizing

Synonyms of dehumanize

Verb

• humiliate
• brutalize
• poison

Examples of dehumanize in a Sentence

Verb

Inspectors have observed terrible factory conditions that dehumanize workers.

the dehumanizing nature of torture

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The petition argues Mays’ language during the trial revealed something deeper than a poor defense strategy — a worldview that dehumanized the man he was supposed to defend. — Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026

The costume and the posture of the model in the photo drew comparisons online to images of the racist theatrical character Jim Crow, a staple in blackface minstrel shows, which dehumanized Black people. — Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan five years ago ushered in an era of dehumanizing restrictions for women and girls. — Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 15 Aug. 2026

LeFlouria tells the story from the perspectives of a number of Black women through history, centering the specific humanity of victims of a system that seeks to dehumanize. — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1818, in the meaning defined above