as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
men who had been bestialized by war
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bestialize
Verb
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Tiger Woods is reportedly reeling after his latest DUI arrest, humiliated by the fallout.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
11 Apr. 2026 -
Attorneys representing Butler, Darnbrough, the Commonwealth and the Bristol District Attorney’s Office at the Thursday status hearing all argued the letters lacked veracity, contained false allegations meant to humiliate and embarrass Butler and Darnbrough, and should not be disclosed.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Protesters, however, say that HERC, which neighbors Target Field near the North Loop neighborhood, is responsible for essentially poisoning people who live nearby.—
Conor Wight,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2026
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But he was hauled back into court in August 2024 to answer to new allegations that also attempted to poison his daughter, who was then 10, using the same method.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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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.—
Katie Edwards,
Washington Post,
14 July 2017
Verb
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The scrutiny of fame has always been dehumanizing, though the ubiquity of the modern-day comment section has surely accelerated and exaggerated its cruelty.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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The Coalition for the Homeless says the city's unhoused are often dehumanized and criminalized.—
Jennifer Bisram,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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However, human rights groups say migrants are being brutalized and pushed back illegally at EU borders, while legal protections are increasingly being hollowed out.—
Sam McNeil,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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Bakri is more brittle in Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher as Basem, a Palestinian teacher in the West Bank whose support for insurgents grows after his own son dies in prison and as Israeli settlers brutalize his neighborhood.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
24 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Bestialize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bestialize. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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