victimize
Americanverb
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to punish or discriminate against selectively or unfairly
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to make a victim of
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to kill as or in a manner resembling a sacrificial victim
Synonym Usage
See cheat.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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victimizesimple
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victimizessimple
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have victimizedperfect
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has victimizedperfect
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am victimizingprogressive
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are victimizingprogressive
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is victimizingprogressive
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have been victimizingperfect progressive
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has been victimizingperfect progressive
Past
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victimizedsimple
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had victimizedperfect
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was victimizingprogressive
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were victimizingprogressive
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had been victimizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of victimize
Explanation
To victimize is to make someone into a victim by harming or taking advantage of them in some way. A school bully might be known to victimize other kids on the playground. A victim is someone who has had something bad done to them, like the victim of a murder or a burglary. To victimize is to put someone in that position. A serial killer victimizes the people they kill. A swindler victimizes the people they cheat out of money. Abusive parents victimize their children. A football team that cheats victimizes the other team. When you hear about victimizing, you know someone has been hurt.
Vocabulary lists containing victimize
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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.
