civilize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to bring out of savagery or barbarism into a state characteristic of civilization
-
to refine, educate, or enlighten
Other Word Forms
- civilizable adjective
- civilizatory adjective
- civilizer noun
- decivilize verb (used with object)
- noncivilizable adjective
- overcivilize verb
- uncivilizable adjective
- uncivilize verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of civilize
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.
As societies emerged, we began to develop egos, those brittle parts of our selves taxed with negotiating between our primal urges and the constraints of a civilized order.
Then Miss Philips went to school and told Mr. Crabtree that she had a plan to civilize the Herdmans or, at least, one of them.
From Literature
Instead, he embraced the manly duty of the “great civilized nations of the present day” to ensure that the countries of the Western Hemisphere remain “stable, orderly, and prosperous.”
From Salon
And he declared the area to be an "innovative and highly civilized city representing the tourism culture of the country".
From Barron's
The 82-year-old author spent many hours interviewing these civic mentors, recording their prescriptions for a more civilized society.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
