as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
being deprived of clothes dehumanized the prisoners
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Recent Examples of dehumanize
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
In contrast, today’s autocrats mock the poor, dehumanize immigrants, twist faith into a weapon, and spread hatred cloaked in religion.
—Rev. Frank Alagna, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Apr. 2025
There’s a sector of racialized, underpaid immigrants, doing labor white people won’t, who are getting deported and dehumanized in record numbers in recent years.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 19 Mar. 2025
Human smuggling is dehumanizing.
—Pilar Arias, Fox News, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Sabine Martin, USA Today, 11 Apr. 2025
In contrast, today’s autocrats mock the poor, dehumanize immigrants, twist faith into a weapon, and spread hatred cloaked in religion.
—Rev. Frank Alagna, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Apr. 2025
There’s a sector of racialized, underpaid immigrants, doing labor white people won’t, who are getting deported and dehumanized in record numbers in recent years.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 19 Mar. 2025
Human smuggling is dehumanizing.
—Pilar Arias, Fox News, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize
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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Images of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators being tear-gassed, shot, and otherwise brutalized spread around the globe.—
Ben Ehrenreich,
Harpers Magazine,
26 Mar. 2025
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That morning, Laken was viciously attacked, assaulted, beaten, brutalized and horrifically murdered.—
NPR,
NPR,
5 Mar. 2025
Verb
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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