dehumanizing

adjective

de·​hu·​man·​iz·​ing (ˌ)dē-ˈ(h)yü-mə-ˌnī-ziŋ How to pronounce dehumanizing (audio)
: depriving someone of human qualities, personality, or dignity : demeaning or damaging to a person's humanity or individuality
a dehumanizing caricature/slur
dehumanizing statistics
Before even being allowed to call a lawyer, the arrestee is faced with the dehumanizing treatment of a strip search …John W. Whitehead
This kind of language is deliberately dehumanizing: the athlete is referred to not as a person but as a "brand", throughout.Felix Salmon
Inmates at the South Carolina prison cited dehumanizing conditions such as a lack of sunlight, poor and insufficient food, and few rehabilitative programs as reasons they lost hope.Aaron Cantú
Not only are writers selling their products, they essentially become their products: author as commodity. It's a weirdly dehumanizing experience.Rachel Donadio
… the dehumanizing nastiness of having your intimate personal photos hacked …Joe Fay

Examples of dehumanizing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Trump administration loves to praise democratic governments in the Western Hemisphere, but these same governments are deeply alienated by Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric about Mexican and Central American immigrants to the United States. Christopher Sabatini, Foreign Affairs, 21 Mar. 2019 Eastwood insists on finding humanity everywhere, even in the most dehumanizing circumstances. Keith Phipps, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024 But there’s also something inherently creepy about the process, particularly at a time when many of us are apprehensive about screen acting going down an ever more dehumanizing digital road. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019 Sicario and Traffic star Benicio Del Toro has spoken out against the dehumanizing aspect of the debate around immigration in the lead-up to the U.S. presidential elections. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for dehumanizing 

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dehumanizing was in 1817

Dictionary Entries Near dehumanizing

Cite this Entry

“Dehumanizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dehumanizing. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

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