dehumanizing

adjective

de·​hu·​man·​iz·​ing (ˌ)dē-ˈ(h)yü-mə-ˌnī-ziŋ 

: depriving someone of human qualities, personality, or dignity : demeaning or damaging to a person's humanity or individuality

a dehumanizing caricature/slur

dehumanizing statistics

Before even being allowed to call a lawyer, the arrestee is faced with the dehumanizing treatment of a strip search …

—John W. Whitehead

This kind of language is deliberately dehumanizing: the athlete is referred to not as a person but as a "brand", throughout.

—Felix Salmon

Inmates at the South Carolina prison cited dehumanizing conditions such as a lack of sunlight, poor and insufficient food, and few rehabilitative programs as reasons they lost hope.

—Aaron Cantú

Not only are writers selling their products, they essentially become their products: author as commodity. It's a weirdly dehumanizing experience.

—Rachel Donadio

… the dehumanizing nastiness of having your intimate personal photos hacked …

—Joe Fay

Examples of dehumanizing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the film, Andrea — played by Uruguayan superstar Natalia Oreiro — must navigate a dehumanizing prison system, encountering other women in similar battles. —Jamie Lang, Variety, 13 May 2025

It was used as a dehumanizing form of minstrelsy that further objectified Black men. —Taryn Finley, Refinery29, 1 May 2025

This whole experience has been so disappointing, and it’s been extremely dehumanizing. —James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 11 Apr. 2025

Here was another example of Kim’s funny-angry recasting of an inherently abstract and dehumanizing form. —Mara Mills, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dehumanizing

• actualizing
• antagonizing
• apologising
• apologizing
• capitalizing
• categorizing
• characterizing
• commercializing
• conceptualizing
• criminalizing
• decentralizing
• decolorizing