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Recent Examples of civilize
To American expansionists, the conquest of the Philippines was a continuation of the United States’ westward drive and a fulfillment of its civilizing and democratizing mission.
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Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
The Founding Fathers wanted to civilize a country made up of institutional racists, rabid misogynists and bible-thumping Christians who soon added myths of manly gunslingers and stalwart pioneers to the cultural identity.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 20 Nov. 2024
Black religions, like Vodou and Santería, became key targets in this civilizing mission, demonized as pagan, savage, and dangerous.
—Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús / Made By History, TIME, 4 Oct. 2024
Parking is torturous enough through the Melrose corridor on the weekdays, plus giving a restaurant staff off on Saturday and Sunday seems boldly civilized.
—Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for civilize
Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
The Founding Fathers wanted to civilize a country made up of institutional racists, rabid misogynists and bible-thumping Christians who soon added myths of manly gunslingers and stalwart pioneers to the cultural identity.
—Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 20 Nov. 2024
Black religions, like Vodou and Santería, became key targets in this civilizing mission, demonized as pagan, savage, and dangerous.
—Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús / Made By History, TIME, 4 Oct. 2024
Parking is torturous enough through the Melrose corridor on the weekdays, plus giving a restaurant staff off on Saturday and Sunday seems boldly civilized.
—Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for civilize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for civilize
Verb
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Of the traits the Bills are likely looking for, those are the more difficult to cultivate at the NFL level.—
Joe Buscaglia,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2025
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Keep coming back to your long-term vision, and cultivate this mindset among all employees, regardless of their role.—
Alexandre Bonvin,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
Verb
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During the party’s push to urbanize China in the 2000s, many farmers had to surrender even these meager rights in exchange for an apartment and a welfare check.—
Ian Johnson,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2025
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And so most countries around the world will need to urbanize to move their populations out of energy poverty, a great transformation that is already taking place at an unprecedented rate.—
Ted Nordhaus,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Aug. 2016
Cite this Entry
“Civilize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/civilize. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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