demonize

verb

de·​mon·​ize ˈdē-mə-ˌnīz 

demonized; demonizing; demonizes

transitive verb

: to portray (someone or something) as evil or as worthy of contempt or blame : vilify

But the Senate hearings have a broader purpose than exposing I.R.S. sins. They are a central element in a campaign by Congressional Republicans to demonize the tax agency, already the least loved of all Government bureaucracies.

—John M. Broder

The point is not to demonize business leaders. Their reasons for not hiring make eminent sense, given the incentives of the marketplace and the imperative to remain competitive.

—Zachary Karabell

Violence in the media has become the whipping boy of choice in these hypocritical times. It's easier to demonize a movie screen than to deal with the thorny issues of crime, racism, drugs, poverty and gun control.

—Peter Travers

For those who would forge a new environmental ethic, there is a constant temptation to demonize technology and deify nature.

—Gina Maranto

demonization

ˌdē-mə-nə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

plural demonizations

In the Washington of Clinton and Gingrich, Dole and Buchanan, … the demonization of one's political foes has reached an epic frenzy.

—Stryker McGuire and David Ansen

Examples of demonize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But as a flurry of right- and left-wing accounts used the tactic to publicize and shame people without public power, the strategy became diffuse, wielded to demonize everyone from supporters of transgender rights to Jan. 6 insurrectionists. —Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024

Eggs are packed with protein Eggs have been demonized for being high in dietary cholesterol, which health experts once believed could contribute to heart disease, said Dr. Maya Vadiveloo, an associate professor of nutrition at the University of Rhode Island. —Katie Mogg, NBC News, 14 Apr. 2024

Donald Trump, Fox News, and the other organs in the right-wing universe are holding up Berliner’s 3,500-word piece to demonize the outlet. —Oliver Darcy, CNN, 11 Apr. 2024

Each side, analysts said, has focused on demonizing the other instead of offering policy proposals. —Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2024

Neither demonized nor redeemed, these characters mostly end up dead or in prison, and even those who survive are haunted by misunderstandings, feuds, and mistakes. —Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2024

They’ve been undermined and demonized partly by external forces and internal forces. —Christopher Kuo, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024

That leaves gender transition, which is easily caricatured and demonized by unscrupulous politicians aiming to rally their base against a wholly imaginary crisis. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024

In several statements, UNRWA has rejected any suggestion that it's been aiding Hamas and accused Israel of attempting to demonize the agency. —Tom Soufi Burridge, ABC News, 5 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above