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
It’s often used to criminalize us, dehumanize us.
—
Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2025
Some of these deportation efforts have been purposefully dehumanizing, like the opening of Alligator Alcatraz.
—William D. Lopez, Time, 29 Sep. 2025
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.
—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
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 17 Oct. 2025
Some of these deportation efforts have been purposefully dehumanizing, like the opening of Alligator Alcatraz.
—William D. Lopez, Time, 29 Sep. 2025
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.
—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
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize
Verb
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And videotaping it to humiliate them.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
21 Dec. 2025
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She had never been arrested before and felt humiliated when her mugshot was plastered all over the news after her arrest.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
12 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
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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According to other accounts, some white residents believed Makandal and his allies were behind a plot to poison the water supply in all the houses in the city of Le Cap.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Jan. 2026
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In a recent study, however, researchers at Yale found that interoception helped mice avoid poisoning themselves.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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