Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for dehumanize. Search instead for avhumanisera.
Definitions

dehumanize

[dee-hyoo-muh-nahyz, -yoo-] / diˈhju məˌnaɪz, -ˈju- /
VERB
to deprive of dignity; treat as less than human
Synonyms
STRONGEST
STRONG
WEAK
barbarize brutalize imbrute
Antonyms


VERB
remove the need for human skills
Synonyms
Antonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

“The purpose of oppression, hatred and discrimination is to disconnect us and dehumanize us,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025

“We need to support artists, not dehumanize them.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025

Social media has a way of exacerbating preexisting social tensions and divisions, making it easier to dehumanize the other side and engage in a kind of verbal warfare.

From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025

How far are we willing to go to utterly dehumanize ourselves?

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024

Treating differences as a threat enables one society to dehumanize the other.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

“When political leaders, influencers, and those with a large social platform choose language that dehumanizes communities, families get hurt, and hate crimes rise.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2024

It’s tragic that she, in that moment, dehumanizes not only her family, but herself.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2024

“The use of the word ‘inmate’ further dehumanizes and demoralizes them,” he said in Ms. Hochul’s press release.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 9, 2022

“It really dehumanizes the events, the consequences of shootings, and makes it all into a joke,” said Whitney Phillips, a longtime disinformation researcher.

From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022

The wonderful device meant to enrich life has become a weapon which dehumanizes people.

From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Bruce Sterling

Because when you allow people to be dehumanized, you stop caring about them — and Reiner was not about to let us stop caring.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

The press corps has a job to do, but observers say its presence and callous pursuit of images that will sell can make immigrants feel dehumanized.

From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2025

There's such a complicated relationship between Black America, loving this country, and being so dehumanized through time.

From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2024

“Migrants are dehumanized and considered as nothing more than potential labor, entitled only to precarious regularization offers,” the French association said.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2023

“People as far on the fringes as you can get, completely dehumanized by ‘normal’ society.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Like the billionaire geniuses who created social media that wound up depressing, dumbing down and dehumanizing civilization, the motives of these companies were purely financial.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Detainees there have long said the practice is dehumanizing and invasive.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026

“The majority of Americans still believe in decency,” Obama said, adding that the normalization of racist and dehumanizing content reflects a dangerous loss of civic responsibility.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026

They added that they "oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people" and "pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence".

From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025

We had to participate in these moronic, dehumanizing, and totally awkward “team building” exercises.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben


Vocabulary lists containing dehumanize

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training