1
as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
even three years in a prison camp did not brutalize him
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
Red Cross workers reported that prisoners had been brutalized
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of brutalize
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
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
Yes, that same night, beyond the hallowed walls of Prescott’s, people all across New York were being brutalized by HIV, falling dead from AIDS.
—Literary Hub, 17 Mar. 2026
In New York, guards who brutalized prisoners or covered it up were rarely fired.
—Katie Moore, Kansas City Star, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Sam McNeil, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026
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
Yes, that same night, beyond the hallowed walls of Prescott’s, people all across New York were being brutalized by HIV, falling dead from AIDS.
—Literary Hub, 17 Mar. 2026
In New York, guards who brutalized prisoners or covered it up were rarely fired.
—Katie Moore, Kansas City Star, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
Verb
-
In another case, a witness described discovering the body of a man whose genitals had been severed, lying beside the body of a woman holding them, in what the report described as an apparent effort to degrade and humiliate the victims.—
Amelie Botbol,
FOXNews.com,
14 May 2026
-
Those who don’t get the job leave diminished, sometimes humiliated, and the institution absorbs the damage quietly for years.—
Paul Hardart,
Fortune,
9 May 2026
Verb
-
My greatest wish is that this ruling sets a precedent for the Treasury and serves the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt and forces them to prove their innocence at the cost of economic and emotional ruin.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
18 May 2026
-
The 68-year-old pharmacist has targeted a House ethics investigation into whether Collins abused taxpayer funds by hiring the girlfriend of his former chief of staff — now his campaign adviser — for work that the woman allegedly did not perform.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Hate speech uses feelings, emotions and attitudes that seek to dehumanize individuals or groups.—
Nathalie Japkowicz,
The Conversation,
18 May 2026
-
In particular, when politicians use demonizing or dehumanizing rhetoric to attack their opponents— for example, using words that depict their opponents as subhuman— this fosters extremism and helps motivate extremists to hurt their opponents physically.—
James Piazza,
Twin Cities,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
New York bullied Philadelphia in the second round with a combination of elite shot-making and pressure defense.—
Tony Jones,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
-
Police say another mother, identified in the affidavit as Jada Hayes, remained in the parking lot after the meeting to speak with Dunmars about allegations that Dunmars’ child was bullying her own child.—
Angelique Brenes,
PEOPLE,
16 May 2026
Verb
-
Despite evidence that the two got along well enough, rumors spread in Vienna after Mozart’s death that Salieri had poisoned him.—
Michael Schulman,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
Boys State team Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss are behind Teenage Wasteland, which revisits the story of a group of teenagers in upstate New York, who in the early 1990s make a film that uncovers a conspiracy that is poisoning their community.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Some of the Richins' children described waking in fear the day their father died and being mistreated by Kouri Richins in statements read by their counselors.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
-
Activists accused the facility of mistreating the dogs that were being bred for laboratory testing.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
Gratified right-wingers closely examined the charges and pointed to the prosecution as validation of their belief that conservative Christians across America are being oppressed by violent left-leaning protesters.—
Quinta Jurecic,
The Atlantic,
21 May 2026
-
Having been raised not too far from similarly-minded environs, this Turkish critic knows that keeping a pure and noble familial slate in patriarchy often means oppressing women.—
Tomris Laffly,
Variety,
20 May 2026
Verb
-
The French Resistance hero Jean Moulin was 44 when he was captured by the Gestapo in Lyon and tortured until his death, in July of 1943.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
17 May 2026
-
For months, he was tortured before eventually escaping by following a stream.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
