1
as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
even three years in a prison camp did not brutalize him
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
Red Cross workers reported that prisoners had been brutalized
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of brutalize
As her due date approached, she was brought to the infamous detention center Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada (Navy School of Mechanics), known as ESMA, where prisoners were brutalized.
—
Sam Gillette, People.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Heads of foreign intelligence agencies recalled visiting his office and seeing a photograph of Nazi soldiers brutalizing Dagan’s grandfather on the wall.
—Yossi Melman, ProPublica, 7 Aug. 2025
The Undertaker and Big Boss Man brutalized each other in a Hell in a Cell match.
—Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 5 Aug. 2025
Ventura wrapped her testimony nearly a year to the day after CNN published security footage of Combs brutalizing her in a hotel hallway in 2016.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Sam Gillette, People.com, 8 Aug. 2025
Heads of foreign intelligence agencies recalled visiting his office and seeing a photograph of Nazi soldiers brutalizing Dagan’s grandfather on the wall.
—Yossi Melman, ProPublica, 7 Aug. 2025
The Undertaker and Big Boss Man brutalized each other in a Hell in a Cell match.
—Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 5 Aug. 2025
Ventura wrapped her testimony nearly a year to the day after CNN published security footage of Combs brutalizing her in a hotel hallway in 2016.
—Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
Verb
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Pressing for payment could humiliate people, who often arrive with their extended families, Parmar explained, and in a community this close-knit, that could mean losing dozens of patients, including many of the Medicaid patients who keep the clinic afloat.—
Helen Ouyang,
The Atlantic,
21 Oct. 2025
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By the time the cameras stopped clicking and the newsmen flew home, Kentucky had been humiliated in the national press, the onlooker’s violence both disputed and affirmed in accounts of this day.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Why this threat matters The Deep Research agent was designed to perform multistep research and summarize online data, but its wide access to third-party apps like Gmail, Google Drive and Dropbox also opened the door to abuse.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
18 Oct. 2025
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He was hit with a massive $50,000 fine for verbally abusing officials back in 2023, and he was slapped with a $14,000 fine for a violent gesture during a game against the Buffalo Bills last season.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The guy’s ghosting of me also dehumanized him.—
Anna Holmes,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
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It’s often used to criminalize us, dehumanize us.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Wembanyama added weight and has been bullying defenders in the paint during the preseason while shooting fewer treys.—
Stan Son,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
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Papa Snoop collaborated with GLAAD for the song in honor of Spirit Day, an annual holiday that encourages people to stand against bullying LGBTQ+ youth.—
James Factora,
Them.,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The plot was inspired by a Japanese news report that had deeply disturbed Woo, about a lunatic guilty of poisoning baby formula.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
19 Oct. 2025
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Investigators reportedly discovered evidence through online records that Gates allegedly purchased materials and attempted to carry out a plan to poison her husband.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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They are mistreated, raped, killed.—
Karl Ove Knausgaard,
New Yorker,
21 Oct. 2025
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There have been multiple reports of children being mistreated during enforcement operations.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Our systems were built to oppress people of color.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
19 Oct. 2025
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The men are seen as misogynistic, and the women are oppressed.—
Deena ElGenaidi,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Donnelly, meanwhile, recalled on the witness stand how he was repeatedly drowned, tortured and raped by Gacy, per court documents.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
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To the thousands of Syrians who lost loved ones, or were tortured, imprisoned or displaced by the Assad regime, their homeland had become a crime scene from which the top suspects disappeared en masse.—
Danny Makki,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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