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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.

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“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

“Bishop Rojas’ decision signals that the Church’s mission encompasses a higher calling: to embrace the downtrodden, welcome the stranger and distance itself from policies that dehumanize them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2025

But history also shows us what happens when we dehumanize, depersonalize.

From Salon ● May 26, 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

The word “denigrates Native American women and dehumanizes them,” Ramos said in a statement announcing the name changes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 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

As far as it can do so, it dehumanizes man, and treats him as a thing without a soul.

From Three Prize Essays on American Slavery by A.C. Baldwin

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

“And the hostages have been dehumanized every day since. But that cannot be a license to dehumanize others.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 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

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

What they refrain from hurling in that moment, or at any point throughout “Welcome to Derry,” is a dehumanizing slur splashed all over the pages of the original “It.”

From Salon ● Dec. 8, 2025

“We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement,” the statement read.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025

“The entire process of getting and keeping an entry-level job has become a grueling and dehumanizing ordeal over the past decade,” the author writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025

It is dehumanizing, for it forces one to adapt by becoming more self- contained and insulated.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela




Vocabulary lists containing dehumanize


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