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
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Recent Examples of dehumanize
To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day is to remember what inevitably happens when dehumanizing language goes unchallenged.
—
Bernard Cherkasov, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
Our past, our lives, dehumanized into numbers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Even searches for ethnic slurs hurled at Danish people — language that has historically crept into the American lexicon to dehumanize wartime enemies — come up thin.
—John C. Moritz, Austin American Statesman, 18 Jan. 2026
Punish her, dehumanize her as an example everyone can learn from.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Bernard Cherkasov, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
Our past, our lives, dehumanized into numbers.
—Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Even searches for ethnic slurs hurled at Danish people — language that has historically crept into the American lexicon to dehumanize wartime enemies — come up thin.
—John C. Moritz, Austin American Statesman, 18 Jan. 2026
Punish her, dehumanize her as an example everyone can learn from.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dehumanize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dehumanize
Verb
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At one point at the table, Jane ran a fork down the side of Robert's face, leaving red lines, humiliating him.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
8 Feb. 2026
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Days after the segment was recorded, Schmitz shot Amedure to death, then confessed to the murder, saying he'd been humiliated on national TV.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee has been arrested and charged in the murder of his girlfriend, who was found brutalized at a home in Tennessee on Thursday before succumbing to her injuries.—
Jami Ganz,
Mercury News,
8 Feb. 2026
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Former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee has been arrested and charged in the murder of his girlfriend, who was found brutalized at a home in Tennessee on Thursday before succumbing to her injuries.—
Jami Ganz,
New York Daily News,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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He was also sanctioned by the European Union in January 2019 following a nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, which the British government said was carried out by GRU agents to poison a former Russian spy.—
CNN's Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
8 Feb. 2026
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Children have been among those poisoned this year.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dehumanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dehumanize. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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