DEHUMANIZE Synonyms: 33 Similar and Opposite Words

dehumanize

verb

(ˌ)dē-ˈ(h)yü-mə-ˌnīz

Definition of dehumanize

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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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of dehumanize The songs glorify Russian soldiers and dehumanize Ukrainians, sometimes with ethnic slurs. — Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026 Hisbah members also face widespread allegations of rights abuses in their enforcement operations, including subjecting offenders to dehumanizing punishments such as public beatings or shaming. — ABC News, 28 Aug. 2026 To dehumanize Jews, invoke Goebbels and Nazi imagery, tell Jews to ‘go back to Poland,’ and describe a swastika painted outside a Jewish family’s home as an appropriate symbol for ‘zionazis’ is not criticism of Israel. — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2026 The petition argues Mays’ language during the trial revealed something deeper than a poor defense strategy — a worldview that dehumanized the man he was supposed to defend. — Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for dehumanize

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize

Verb

Doing it this way doesn’t diminish or judge or humiliate her lived experience.

— Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2026
Smallwood attacks Nick’s virility, saying he’ll be publicly humiliated when his wife has to bail him out again in court.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of humiliate

Verb

But critics have warned the gloves will give ICE another weapon to intimidate and brutalize people even as the agency is under fire for excessive force that has left a trail of deaths and injuries across the nation.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
Allegations of abuse, inmates being brutalized by jailers, and dire conditions have plagued the facility for years, leading some county leaders, former sheriffs and civil rights advocates to call for the jail to be closed.

— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of brutalize

Verb

Morison’s followers called themselves Hygeists and attacked physicians as a monopoly that bled and poisoned its patients, which was not inaccurate in the 1830s.

— Jim Downs, STAT, 30 Oct. 2026
Two young men were arraigned Wednesday for fentanyl distribution conspiracy after a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology was fatally poisoned and another nearly died.

— Lisa Rozner, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of poison

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dégringolades

dehumanize

dehumanized

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“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of dehumanize

verb

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