Dehumanize Meaning
/diːˈhjuːmənaɪz/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo take away humanity; to remove or deny human qualities, characteristics, or attributes; to impersonalize.
Sentence Examples
War has the terrible power to dehumanize people.
The prison system should not dehumanize those within it.
The cruel guards tried to dehumanize the prisoners in the camp.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
War often tries to ____ the enemy to justify cruelty.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
War has the terrible power to ____ people.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē-der. English de- Latin hūmānus Old French umain Middle French humainbor. Middle English humayne English human Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō)bor. Late Latin -izōder. Middle French -iserbor. Middle English -isen English -ize English humanize English dehumanize From de- + humanize.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In its consistently logical form Quietism makes communion between man and God an impossibility by annulling the distinction between them, ultimately reducing God to a vague and empty abstraction, and dehumanizing man."
— 1919, James Hastings, John Alexander Selbie, Louis Herbert Gray, Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics: Picts-Sacraments, page 535:
"Yet we are dismayed by the failures and forces that dehumanize and defeat the finest dreams and plans of this generation."
— 1968, Stewart L. Udall, 1976: Agenda for Tomorrow, page 3:
"To what extent can we stop making the culture of the Other so dehumanized and Satanized as to make the Other fit to be genocidable?"
— 1999, Ursula E. Beitter, The New Europe at the Crossroads, page 129:
"And, in this country, the traditional, ingrained way to dehumanize people, to make both their pain and their individuality irrelevant, is to rely on their race."
— 2003, Stephen P. Garvey, editor, Beyond Repair? America's Death Penalty, →ISBN, page 141:
"A Melbourne woman says she feels “dehumanised” after being filmed without consent for a “random act of kindness” TikTok that went viral."
— 2022 July 14, Rafqa Touma, “Melbourne woman ‘dehumanised’ by viral TikTok filmed without her consent”, in The Guardian:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
War often tries to ____ the enemy to justify cruelty.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
War has the terrible power to ____ people.