depersonalize

[ dee-pur-suh-nl-ahyz ]

verb (used with object),de·per·son·al·ized, de·per·son·al·iz·ing.

to make impersonal.
to deprive of personality or individuality: a mechanistic society that is depersonalizing its members.

Origin of depersonalize

First recorded in 1865–70; de- + personalize

Also especially British, de·per·son·al·ise .

Words Nearby depersonalize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use depersonalize in a sentence

This belief runs counter to modern thought, governed as it is by the tendency to depersonalize existence.
The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians | G. G. Findlay
In them the whole effort of the speaker was really to restrain, to moderate, to depersonalize the voice of faith.
Robert Elsmere | Mrs. Humphry Ward
In thus universalizing my moral will, I wholly depersonalize it.
The Behavior of Crowds | Everett Dean Martin

British Dictionary definitions for depersonalize

depersonalize

depersonalise

/ (dɪˈpɜːsnəˌlaɪz) /

verb(tr)

to deprive (a person, organization, system, etc) of individual or personal qualities; render impersonal
to cause (someone) to lose his sense of personal identity

Origin of depersonalize

C19: from de- + personal + -ize

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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