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
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
Yes, there is an occasional Abbott Labs , which was brutalized by China, or Netflix , which was challenged by sky-high expectations.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 21 July 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
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
Yes, there is an occasional Abbott Labs , which was brutalized by China, or Netflix , which was challenged by sky-high expectations.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 21 July 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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An Italian activist who was part of the Gaza aid flotilla and subsequently detained by Israel has described allegations of being mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli custody, with little access to legal assistance.—
Catherine Nicholls,
CNN Money,
6 Oct. 2025
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Even its most mean-spirited plotline, in which a married couple assemble a fake theater production to humiliate their ex-neighbor whose noisiness prompted them to move, is presented as more of a gentle exercise in silliness than anything truly vindictive.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The biggest controversy surrounding Flock Safety centers around allegations that law enforcement agencies have abused the company's technology to target women, immigrants and people engaged in activity.—
Wren Smetana,
AZCentral.com,
5 Oct. 2025
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Ed Gein later told investigators he and his brother were abused by his father, who died in 1940 of heart failure.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Relief and health workers say these other methods of delivering food in Gaza, including the GHF sites and aid pallet drops from planes, are dehumanizing and inaccessible for many Palestinians, and expose them to injury or death.—
Soph Warnes,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
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Some of these deportation efforts have been purposefully dehumanizing, like the opening of Alligator Alcatraz.—
William D. Lopez,
Time,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Now he's accused the Indianapolis Democrat of bullying and threatening him.—
Kayla Dwyer,
IndyStar,
3 Oct. 2025
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After getting bullied in elementary school, his mom, the comic book writer Elaine Lee, homeschooled him.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This creates unavoidable and intolerable conflicts of interest that poison the competitive dynamics that healthy markets require.—
Asad Ramzanali,
Time,
6 Oct. 2025
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Hogan initially denied poisoning her estranged husband, according to police, but later changed her story.—
Mike Stunson,
Miami Herald,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Israel has strongly denied allegations of mistreating the group.—
Catherine Nicholls,
CNN Money,
6 Oct. 2025
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The facility has also faced allegations of mistreating prisoners.—
Jade Jackson,
IndyStar,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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However, when your organization was founded less than 45 years after slavery was abolished, when Black women were still being forced to be wet nurses to the very children of those who oppressed them and lynching was a common occurrence below the Mason-Dixon Line?—
Essence,
Essence,
3 Oct. 2025
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But for now, we’re stuck in a ratchet, where violent losers copy one another, and their deeds become an excuse to oppress the rest of us.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This is the cost of having been tortured in public.—
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
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The mistake tortures them, which prompts the couple to try and solve the mystery by producing a fake play in an attempt to get their ex-neighbor Mary (Chloe Cherry) to audition.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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