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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 dehumanize
The Coalition for the Homeless says the city's unhoused are often dehumanized and criminalized.
—
Jennifer Bisram, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
In a world that often feels fragmented and dehumanized, reclaiming this universality is an ethical act.
—Ed Meza, Variety, 16 Mar. 2026
Those included flattering depictions of world leaders as powerful men, or dehumanizing depictions of opposition leaders.
—Stuart A. Thompson, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2026
The Creature thinks his suffering can only cease if it is replicated in another, and expresses this desire through possessive, dehumanizing language.
—Rory Doherty, Time, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Jennifer Bisram, CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
In a world that often feels fragmented and dehumanized, reclaiming this universality is an ethical act.
—Ed Meza, Variety, 16 Mar. 2026
Those included flattering depictions of world leaders as powerful men, or dehumanizing depictions of opposition leaders.
—Stuart A. Thompson, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2026
The Creature thinks his suffering can only cease if it is replicated in another, and expresses this desire through possessive, dehumanizing language.
—Rory Doherty, Time, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize
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
-
Now eighteen of those 37 residents are filing complaints under the Federal Tort Claims Act, saying they were unlawfully arrested and brutalized by federal agents during the military-style raid.—
Sara Tenenbaum,
CBS News,
13 May 2026
-
Enslaved people were often punished, beaten, or further brutalized for showing emotion, grieving openly or resisting in visible ways.—
Lisa Deaderick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 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
Cite this Entry
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
