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
Pitching was supposed to be the hallmark of this year’s club, but it’s been brutalized because of injuries.
—
Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Images of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators being tear-gassed, shot, and otherwise brutalized spread around the globe.
—Ben Ehrenreich, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
That morning, Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted, beaten, brutalized and horrifically murdered.
—NPR, 5 Mar. 2025
This despite the fact that Russia has invaded and brutalized a neighbor — committing mass murder, mass torture, mass rape, mass kidnapping — in an effort to subjugate the nation.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Images of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators being tear-gassed, shot, and otherwise brutalized spread around the globe.
—Ben Ehrenreich, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
That morning, Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted, beaten, brutalized and horrifically murdered.
—NPR, 5 Mar. 2025
This despite the fact that Russia has invaded and brutalized a neighbor — committing mass murder, mass torture, mass rape, mass kidnapping — in an effort to subjugate the nation.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 18 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
Verb
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In a display of brute aggression, cartel operatives humiliated Mexican officials by forcing the government to release Mr. Guzmán López shortly after he was captured.—
Alan Feuer,
New York Times,
7 May 2025
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But in Trump’s White House, the goal may be simpler—and harder: not getting humiliated.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
5 May 2025
Verb
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For one, the Fed is unconstrained in its printing of dollars and is therefore more likely to abuse that power in its attempt to stabilize the US economy.—
Korok Ray,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2025
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There are players who abused steroids, served their penalty and are now back in the game.—
John Nogowski,
Hartford Courant,
14 May 2025
Verb
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The post was a joke, and perhaps an effective one, maximizing the distance between Studio Ghibli’s tender, bittersweet, profoundly human ethos and the gleeful, dehumanizing viciousness that is Trump’s stock-in-trade.—
Jia Tolentino,
New Yorker,
3 May 2025
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Garcia was detained in March and deported to his native El Salvador, where he is being held in a system where human beings are routinely dehumanized.—
Colin Pascal,
Baltimore Sun,
27 Apr. 2025
Verb
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There’s a lesson in that for anyone who chafes at Trump’s bullying tactics.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
9 May 2025
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Topics covered include anxiety, depression, eating disorders, bullying and more, the release said.—
Michelle Mullins,
Chicago Tribune,
7 May 2025
Verb
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Years later, the toxic chemicals have poisoned Hong-rang’s body.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
16 May 2025
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And two, baking soda is an indiscriminate weed killer that poisons the soil.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
16 May 2025
Verb
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Trump is working to weaponize immigration enforcement to create an increasingly brutal and unaccountable system — one where anyone could be mistreated, denied justice and left without recourse.—
Juan Vargas,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 May 2025
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Picasso was known for mistreating the women in his life.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
1 May 2025
Verb
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Rather than change the structures that oppress the masses, Benjamin writes, the fascist merely offers the masses a spectacle that gives them the impression that their desires have been met.—
Constance Grady,
Vox,
25 Apr. 2025
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His emphasis on God’s love and his demand that the church go out and minister to oppressed and needy people impressed even those who disagreed with him.—
Henry Chu,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The duo were accused of torturing and killing Micah in March 2018 in the garage of Queen's friend Matthew Vandecasteele over a missing gun dispute, then dismembering Micah and disposing of his body parts.—
Emily Krauser,
People.com,
12 May 2025
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Airlines would just shrink the size of their seats even more, leaving all of us scrambling desperately to feel a little less tortured on our next flights.—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
10 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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