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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:

“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

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

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

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2024

This only delegitimizes and dehumanizes Palestinian voices and stories.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2023

“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

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

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

He wasn’t looking at her, wasn’t focused on her, had dehumanized her in his mind and was treating her as less than a service worker should treat their customer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 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

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

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

Nothing is more dehumanizing than the absence of human companionship.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela




Vocabulary lists containing dehumanize


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