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
Euthanasia decisions are already brutalizing for dog owners, and those decisions may become even more fraught.
—
Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 2 May 2026
Nikitin was drugged and brutalized by his captors in the Soviet psychiatric prisons.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 15 Apr. 2026
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
Yes, that same night, beyond the hallowed walls of Prescott’s, people all across New York were being brutalized by HIV, falling dead from AIDS.
—Literary Hub, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 2 May 2026
Nikitin was drugged and brutalized by his captors in the Soviet psychiatric prisons.
—David Folkenflik, NPR, 15 Apr. 2026
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
Yes, that same night, beyond the hallowed walls of Prescott’s, people all across New York were being brutalized by HIV, falling dead from AIDS.
—Literary Hub, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
Verb
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Linda Hyde, a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards member since 2014, boarded her Southwest flight on May 21 at Miami International Airport humiliated and angry.—
Ella Moore
Updated May 29,
Miami Herald,
29 May 2026
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Strength is not the capacity to humiliate someone with less power.—
Marc Brackett,
Hartford Courant,
27 May 2026
Verb
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Crooks have learned how to abuse them, steal them and trick people into handing them over.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2026
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What is perhaps most troubling is the actions of some to abuse their access to privileged and confidential information to mispresent facts, manipulate situations and selectively use and leak that information to promote personal agendas.—
Michael T. Nietzel,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
Verb
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In each project, shifting scale becomes a way to recover empathy from systems that abstract and dehumanize.—
Emily Watlington,
ARTnews.com,
24 May 2026
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Hate speech uses feelings, emotions and attitudes that seek to dehumanize individuals or groups.—
Nathalie Japkowicz,
The Conversation,
18 May 2026
Verb
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Pratt alleged that volunteers have been bullied, harassed, and have been trying to get Bass’s attention.—
Britta Miller,
The Washington Examiner,
30 May 2026
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The student who was injured was subjected to other instances of bullying before the assault on May 7, according to the lawsuit filed by Mollie and Boston Mallory, the plaintiff’s attorneys.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 May 2026
Verb
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He was buried alive on a construction site and then poisoned by a venomous rattlesnake that crawled into his coffin and attacked him.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
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Just months after Netflix announced its plans to produce the series, Lin was poisoned and killed at age 39.—
Sylvie Zhuang,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
Verb
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Immigration officials insisted she had not been mistreated.—
Tim Sullivan,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
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Your daughter is mistreating you.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
29 May 2026
Verb
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Gratified right-wingers closely examined the charges and pointed to the prosecution as validation of their belief that conservative Christians across America are being oppressed by violent left-leaning protesters.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
21 May 2026
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Having been raised not too far from similarly-minded environs, this Turkish critic knows that keeping a pure and noble familial slate in patriarchy often means oppressing women.—
Tomris Laffly,
Variety,
20 May 2026
Verb
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She was arrested at a hotel near the barn and booked at the Clark County Juvenile Hall on 12 counts of animal cruelty, including intentionally aiming or torturing a horse, as well as three counts of malicious destruction of property.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
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She was later transported to the Clark County Juvenile Hall and charged with 12 counts of willful or malicious killing, maiming or torturing an animal and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property valued at more than $5,000, police said.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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