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

Padilla said that seeing public officials scapegoat and demonize families like his convinced him to join an ensuing movement to bring more Latinos into positions of power. —Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024

With New York as his backdrop, a city that's reckoned with housing a surge of migrants seeking asylum in recent years, Trump continued to demonize immigrants. —Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 24 May 2024

During that time, Democrats moved further to the left and demonized successful people who made a lot of money, further alienating some tech leaders, said Bradley Tusk, a venture capital investor and political strategist who supports Mr. Biden. —Erin Griffith, New York Times, 23 May 2024

The political sport of demonizing those who come here for a better life is appalling. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 3 Apr. 2024

Salad dressing is often demonized in diet culture spaces online. —Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 5 May 2024

Indeed, rather than demonizing the recount effort, Low should have been applauding it. —Daniel Borenstein, The Mercury News, 3 May 2024

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

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above