as in to poison
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
six months of solitary living in the jungle would animalize anyone
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Recent Examples of animalize
Sociologist Anthony Cortese found that in popular culture black women are often othered, animalized and exoticized, associating women of color with primitivity or wild sexuality.
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Katie Edwards, Washington Post, 14 July 2017
Katie Edwards, Washington Post, 14 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for animalize
Verb
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The toxins accumulate in filter-feeding fish, and then poison larger mammals who gobble up the fish in mass quantities.—
Corinne Purtill,
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 2025
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The Louisville Courier Journal documented the connection in their investigation into cartel drugs poisoning Oregon.—
Sean Campbell,
The Conversation,
23 May 2025
Verb
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Simone Inzaghi really needs the win here — his Italian side finished one point behind Serie A champ Napoli and was humiliated by rival AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semifinal.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
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And after Trump’s attempts to humiliate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, the lure of the White House is waning.—
Stephen Collinson,
CNN Money,
31 May 2025
Verb
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In this evil place that was designed to dehumanize you, these women created this sisterhood and refused to allow that to happen.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
4 June 2025
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Instead of offering care, the jail isolates, neglects, and dehumanizes people who need treatment — not incarceration.—
Justyna Rzewinski,
New York Daily News,
21 May 2025
Verb
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Guards, many of them teenage cadets from police academies, are reportedly ordered to humiliate and brutalize detainees, some barely older than themselves.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
20 May 2025
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Then there’s Danaher, the worst of all, which has been brutalized by a lack of Chinese biotech offerings.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
16 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Animalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/animalize. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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