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
The oversimplification of a complex developmental difference that exists on a spectrum of many different abilities and experiences is dehumanizing at best and dangerous at its worst, autism experts, advocacy groups and members of the community told USA TODAY.
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Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2025
These aren’t random acts of violence—they’re the inevitable endpoint of a culture that has normalized dehumanizing those who express perspectives that differ from our own.
—Margie Warrell, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
And as social media is woven ever deeper into every corner of our lives — school, work, civic engagement, religious participation — dehumanizing images like these become harder for even the squeamish to avoid.
—Zeynep Tufekci, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025
Democrats who are the least racially resentful are the most likely to vilify and dehumanize Republicans.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2025
These aren’t random acts of violence—they’re the inevitable endpoint of a culture that has normalized dehumanizing those who express perspectives that differ from our own.
—Margie Warrell, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
And as social media is woven ever deeper into every corner of our lives — school, work, civic engagement, religious participation — dehumanizing images like these become harder for even the squeamish to avoid.
—Zeynep Tufekci, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025
Democrats who are the least racially resentful are the most likely to vilify and dehumanize Republicans.
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize
Verb
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Strummer was humiliated by the whole album.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
9 Nov. 2025
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The Heat’s next two games comes against a Cavaliers team that humiliated Miami out of the first round of the playoffs last season.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Art the Clown likes brutalizing women.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
7 Nov. 2025
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He was fired a few years later over allegations of brutalizing a suspect in custody.—
Omar Jimenez,
CNN Money,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Brit List script, which treads the line between black comedy and drama, is set in the early 20th Century Hungary where a village knitting club takes it upon themselves to poison their abusive husbands with arsenic.—
Diana Lodderhose,
Deadline,
6 Nov. 2025
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People who are rude or unaware with receptionists can poison your culture, create unnecessary hierarchies, and drive your best people to leave.—
Jessica Neal,
CNBC,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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