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
All’s Fair is a 2010s Shonda Rhimes procedural on steroid shots and Goop supplements, if everyone in the writers’ room had been freshly lobotomized.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
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
Judy Berman, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lobotomize
Verb
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Adopting the Southern view, the Supreme Court issued opinions that severely undermined the legal architecture of Reconstruction.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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Others tell us that AI will completely undermine society.—
David Lyman,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Donkey has now been castrated, and the adorable family trio lives together in a large field with Partridge's other horses.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Aug. 2025
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The opera premiered in Rome at a time when castrati, or castrated male singers, took on treble roles; a papal decree forbade women from performing onstage.—
Hannah Edgar,
Chicago Tribune,
28 June 2025
Verb
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With some estimates putting wave heights as much as 35 feet, weakened hatch covers would have been vulnerable to such waves.—
Stephen J. Beard,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
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The years of horrific violence have weakened Sudan, plunging its institutions into chaos and making its population more vulnerable and poorer.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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During the final week, the crew worked nonstop for sixty hours in a heat wave that parched energy and drained our bodies.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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Instead, voters now are expressing concerns that high prices for groceries, electricity bills and housing are draining their bank accounts.—
Josh Boak,
Fortune,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The team concentrated on stars that had recently entered the post-main sequence phase, having exhausted their hydrogen, and identified just 130 planets and planet candidates orbiting nearby – 33 of which had not been detected before.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Nov. 2025
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Despite these real dangers, our law enforcement shows incredible restraint in exhausting all options before force is escalated.—
James Hill,
ABC News,
7 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lobotomize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lobotomize. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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