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
To fall in love with a chatbot or rely on it for friendship — to me that’s a pretty good definition of dehumanizing.
—
Nick Hilden, Rolling Stone, 24 Feb. 2026
Immigration detainees have described life inside the west suburban processing facility as dehumanizing, a Tribune investigation over the summer found.
—Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb. 2026
Bad Bunny, Kehlani, Olivia Dean, Shaboozey, SZA, and Billie Eilish all used their platforms at the Grammys to talk about how ICE is dehumanizing immigrants and terrorizing American communities.
—Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Refinery29, 9 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
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Nick Hilden, Rolling Stone, 24 Feb. 2026
Immigration detainees have described life inside the west suburban processing facility as dehumanizing, a Tribune investigation over the summer found.
—Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb. 2026
Bad Bunny, Kehlani, Olivia Dean, Shaboozey, SZA, and Billie Eilish all used their platforms at the Grammys to talk about how ICE is dehumanizing immigrants and terrorizing American communities.
—Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Refinery29, 9 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
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize
Verb
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The Rockies have been humiliated before in their first home game, but never as badly as this.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
4 Apr. 2026
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The leadership of the country that has threatened the stability and prosperity of the world will eventually be ousted, disempowered and humiliated.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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However, human rights groups say migrants are being brutalized and pushed back illegally at EU borders, while legal protections are increasingly being hollowed out.—
Sam McNeil,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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Bakri is more brittle in Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher as Basem, a Palestinian teacher in the West Bank whose support for insurgents grows after his own son dies in prison and as Israeli settlers brutalize his neighborhood.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Harold had been given a root beer float, poisoned with ethylene glycol purchased by Ashley, as those damning text messages showed.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
5 Apr. 2026
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But Antonelli also questioned reports the two had been deliberately poisoned.—
Barbie Latza Nadeau,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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