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 racist imagery is strategically embedded within a larger narrative promoting false election fraud conspiracy theories, designed to dehumanize Black and brown voters as threats to democracy and to justify restricting their participation in elections.
—
Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026
Extending a desire for wholeness not only to the victims of ICE harassment, but to the ICE agents themselves, recognizes that those who dehumanize others have lost sight of their own humanity.
—Emily Chamlee-Wright, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2026
In a chilling pattern, there are systematic efforts to sow disinformation, hate speech, and dehumanizing images in areas where militants want to carry out operations.
—Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Our past, our lives, dehumanized into numbers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2026
Extending a desire for wholeness not only to the victims of ICE harassment, but to the ICE agents themselves, recognizes that those who dehumanize others have lost sight of their own humanity.
—Emily Chamlee-Wright, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2026
In a chilling pattern, there are systematic efforts to sow disinformation, hate speech, and dehumanizing images in areas where militants want to carry out operations.
—Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Our past, our lives, dehumanized into numbers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize
Verb
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Most casual fans could spend their entire lives studying a library’s worth of chess theory, only to still be routinely humiliated by competitive players.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
26 Feb. 2026
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Fatme feels humiliated, but Toha is too busy plotting how to return from her rundown village near the Nile.—
Alissa Simon,
Variety,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Ayatollah Khamenei led a regime that brutalized its own people, launched attacks around the world for almost 40 years.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 Mar. 2026
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Please join me in praying for US service members, our allies, and the innocent Iranian population that has been brutalized for decades.—
Twumasi Duah-Mensah,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
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One woman constantly threatened to poison her.—
Susan DeGrane,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Feb. 2026
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Lauber’s testimony Thursday is pivotal to the prosecution of Kouri Richins, who is accused of poisoning her husband with a lethal dose of fentanyl.—
Nicki Brown,
CNN Money,
27 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
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