depersonalization

noun

de·​per·​son·​al·​i·​za·​tion (ˌ)dē-ˌpər-snə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

-ˌpər-sə-nə-lə-

1

a

: an act or process of depersonalizing

b

: the quality or state of being depersonalized

2

: a psychopathological syndrome characterized by loss of identity and feelings of unreality and strangeness about one's own behavior

Examples of depersonalization in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While Liden’s displacement and depersonalization of private property in Unheimlich Manöver could be perceived as the inversion of Darboven’s cocooning, the artists share a preoccupation with the silent speech of objects and with language as a spatial entity. —Erika Landström, Artforum, 2 June 2026

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it through three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, cynicism or depersonalization, and a sense of ineffectiveness. —Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 5 May 2026

In both films, the effect is of a diminution, a depersonalization—not to say, a desecration of the experience of horror that the documentary element embodies. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026

The symptoms that social media users are describing might overlap with seasonal affective disorder, depersonalization or the long-term effects of past trauma, Fisher said. —The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for depersonalization

• americanization
• anticoagulation
• antidiscrimination
• bioaccumulation
• bioremediation
• compartmentalization
• contextualization
• copolymerization
• decriminalization
• dehumidification
• demilitarization
• demineralization

Medical Definition

depersonalization

noun

de·​per·​son·​al·​iza·​tion

variants or British depersonalisation

(ˌ)dē-ˌpər-snə-lə-ˈzā-shən, -ˌpərs-ᵊn-ə-lə- 

: the act or process of causing or the state resulting from loss of the sense of personal identity

especially : a psychopathological syndrome characterized by loss of identity and feelings of unreality or strangeness about one's own behavior

depersonalize transitive verb

or British depersonalise

(ˈ)dē-ˈpər-snə-ˌlīz, -ˈpərs-ᵊn-ə- 

depersonalized or British depersonalised; depersonalizing or British depersonalising