villainize
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’ve been taught to fetishize our suffering and villainize our joy — that working toward a long-term goal should feel like work.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 27, 2026
When “Yellowstone,” Sheridan’s first show, premiered in 2018, #MeToo was reverberating across television with producers waffling over whether to villainize or defend macho characters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Yet, remarkably, they don’t villainize these figures who, no matter how hard they try, can’t seem to say the right thing.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2025
But she also sees a temptation among public officials to villainize or medicalize loneliness— and to tout simplistic “solutions” to a complex and natural part of the human experience.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 24, 2024
“No. They probably would villainize you to justify it.”
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
Glatzer: That’s a lot of what we’re dealing with too, is just humanizing the people who are villainized otherwise and reminding them of their own humanity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
New York teams are used to being villainized by the rest of the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
"It feels a little bit more dangerous and unsafe than before because all of our protections are being rolled back, and we're being villainized in these ways."
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2025
But it’s important to note that not all cultures villainized menstruation, Clancy says.
From National Geographic ● Nov. 29, 2023
“We’re not only being tasked with taking this on, but we’re villainized for speaking up,” Castro said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2023
I mean, I want us to get back to kindness, get back to respecting one another, instead of villainizing anyone who you think doesn’t agree with you.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2025
Figgener fears the public also became too focused on villainizing straws, rather than looking at plastic production itself as the problem.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 12, 2023
The Corporation is just like all the giant conglomerates villainizing contemporary narratives, from Dave Eggers’ “The Circle” to “Silicon Valley’s” Hooli to “WALL-E’s” Buy n Large to “Severance’s” Lumon Industries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2023
“There’s a risk of demonizing or villainizing the Rio Grande cutthroat,” Mitchell said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2022
Though Aniston is down to do whatever unbecoming thing is asked of her, the show itself seems intermittently panicked about how far it can go in villainizing her.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2019
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