as in to undermine
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality
fear of saying anything controversial has so lobotomized this book on geopolitics that it fails to say anything at all
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Recent Examples of lobotomize
Neuro procedures are always the scariest, because the surgeons are basically poking around in a little black box and staring at brain waves and hoping their patients don’t wake up partially lobotomized.
—
Laura Bradley, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2025
According to the film’s psychiatric adviser, Professor James Gilligan, however, who spoke to The Guardian in 2010, Andrew was aware of his actions when he was ordered to be lobotomized.
—Nicole Briese, People.com, 19 Feb. 2025
Quinn also needed to lobotomize the football culture and get players to buy into his team-over-me standard.
—Ben Standig, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
And to do so without fear of being incarcerated, lobotomized, rejected by our families or fired.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 29 June 2024
Violet has had Catherine committed, and is advocating for her to be lobotomized by young surgeon John Cukrowicz (gay Hollywood legend Montgomery Clift) in a veiled attempt to keep their past with Sebastian a secret.
—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 17 June 2024
It’s just absolutely been lobotomized into something that sounds like Wikipedia, essentially.
—Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Aug. 2023
For someone who witnessed the Obama-era phenomenon of Low End Theory, the place seemed lobotomized.
—Jeff Weiss, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2023
To lobotomize their ability to access and express the full range of human experience back to consenting adults seems not just puritanical, but a fool’s errand.
—Tabi Jensen, WIRED, 9 Mar. 2023
Laura Bradley, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2025
According to the film’s psychiatric adviser, Professor James Gilligan, however, who spoke to The Guardian in 2010, Andrew was aware of his actions when he was ordered to be lobotomized.
—Nicole Briese, People.com, 19 Feb. 2025
Quinn also needed to lobotomize the football culture and get players to buy into his team-over-me standard.
—Ben Standig, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
And to do so without fear of being incarcerated, lobotomized, rejected by our families or fired.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 29 June 2024
Violet has had Catherine committed, and is advocating for her to be lobotomized by young surgeon John Cukrowicz (gay Hollywood legend Montgomery Clift) in a veiled attempt to keep their past with Sebastian a secret.
—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 17 June 2024
It’s just absolutely been lobotomized into something that sounds like Wikipedia, essentially.
—Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Aug. 2023
For someone who witnessed the Obama-era phenomenon of Low End Theory, the place seemed lobotomized.
—Jeff Weiss, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2023
To lobotomize their ability to access and express the full range of human experience back to consenting adults seems not just puritanical, but a fool’s errand.
—Tabi Jensen, WIRED, 9 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lobotomize
Verb
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Your bombastic attacks on the free press are, at best, unflattering — and at worst, undermine a core tenet of democracy.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 June 2025
-
Trump is undermining our economy with reckless tariffs, harsh cuts, and ICE agents terrorizing our communities.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 June 2025
Verb
-
Male piglets are routinely castrated without anesthesia.—
Eric Levitz,
Vox,
7 Dec. 2018
-
The victims are all male, the corpses all castrated, and each crime scene is signed with lines of poetry by the Argentinean writer Alejandra Pizarnik.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Abandoning recognition can erode motivation, diminish engagement and make employees feel invisible, weakening the cultural fabric and undermining long-term resilience.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
-
But in an unexpected ruling in 2023, the Supreme Court declined an invitation to weaken Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.—
June 27,
CBS News,
27 June 2025
Verb
-
The Army Corps’ solution was to take a meandering 103-mile river that snaked through one of the wildest areas in the state, drain it, and carve it into a ruler-straight, 56-mile 30-foot-deep canal dubbed the C-38 — not exactly fodder for the tourism board.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
29 June 2025
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In such situations, when a client has the resources and the inclination to go round after round, small municipalities have to decide whether to settle or stand on principle, draining their budget.—
Andrew Rice,
Curbed,
26 June 2025
Verb
-
Unlike many other raptors that rely on sudden ambush attacks, the gyrfalcon excels at long chases across tundra and icy terrain, often locking onto prey and keeping pursuit until the target is exhausted.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2025
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Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.—
Emily Trainham,
FOXNews.com,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lobotomize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lobotomize. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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