1
as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
even three years in a prison camp did not brutalize him
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
Red Cross workers reported that prisoners had been brutalized
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of brutalize
That morning Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted, beaten, brutalized, and horrifically murdered.
—
CBS News, 5 Mar. 2025
That morning, Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted, beaten, brutalized, and horrifically murdered.
—Time Staff, TIME, 5 Mar. 2025
Our heroes first find the eponymous Tin Man, for example, imprisoned in a metal sarcophagus, forced to watch video clips of his family being brutalized for decades.
—Emma Stefansky, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2024
He was physically and mentally brutalized by a sociopathic father.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
CBS News, 5 Mar. 2025
That morning, Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted, beaten, brutalized, and horrifically murdered.
—Time Staff, TIME, 5 Mar. 2025
Our heroes first find the eponymous Tin Man, for example, imprisoned in a metal sarcophagus, forced to watch video clips of his family being brutalized for decades.
—Emma Stefansky, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2024
He was physically and mentally brutalized by a sociopathic father.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
Verb
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Shawn reluctantly agrees, but is humiliated when Cory starts acting corny around his friend Gambling Dan (Phil Buckman), and his lackey, Louie (Weiss).—
EW.com,
EW.com,
16 Apr. 2025
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He must be seen standing up to foreign oppressors who seek to humiliate China and thwart its rightful rise.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
11 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Donald Trump is abusing the levers of government to launch an attack against New York Attorney General Tish James on what seem to be pretty flimsy claims of fraud.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
20 Apr. 2025
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The ways in which these attackers have abused Google’s email system clearly needs to be patched.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
20 Apr. 2025
Verb
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School staff wouldn't face punishment For using students' incorrect pronouns under bill Another Iowa student, 14-year-old Berry Stevens, who uses they/them pronouns, said the bill allowed adults and students in schools to go out of their way to dehumanize others.—
Sabine Martin,
USA Today,
11 Apr. 2025
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Empathy disappears, justice is dismissed, and the people who live in the land are dehumanized.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Apr. 2025
Verb
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So, thank you for bullying me into getting surgical hair replacement.—
Joey Nolfi,
EW.com,
25 Apr. 2025
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There have been 604 bullying and harassment cases, an average of 55 a year.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
25 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Scores of sea lions and dolphins have been fatally poisoned in recent months by domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by harmful algal blooms.—
Corinne Purtill,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2025
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Morgan was previously married to Keith Whitley from 1986 to his alcohol poisoning death in 1989 at age 34.—
Rachel DeSantis,
People.com,
17 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Behind her glamorous exterior, the real Dorothy was a closeted lesbian who struggled with substance abuse and was mistreated by the men within Hollywood’s studio system before ultimately committing suicide.—
Abby Monteil,
Them.,
17 Apr. 2025
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English, who denies the allegations, is at least the second state legislator to be investigated for allegedly mistreating aides in the past year.—
Seth Klamann,
Denver Post,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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According to the theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez, a contributor to the development of Latin American liberation theology, God does not remain neutral when people are oppressed, so neither should human leaders.—
Annmarie Caño,
The Conversation,
3 Apr. 2025
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Lopakhin and Varya are pushed together throughout the play, but poor Varya, also born working class, will never be able to break through the part of Lopakhin that still idolizes the very nobility that oppressed his family for generations.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The Court's ruling requires DHS to provide basic procedural protections so that persons are not secretly removed to a country where they may be persecuted or tortured.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
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Michael Sang Correa was charged with torturing five men believed to be opponents of Yahya Jammeh following an unsuccessful plot to remove him from power in 2006.—
Colleen Slevin,
Denver Post,
15 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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