anthropomorphize

American  

[an-thruh-puh-mawr-fahyz] / ˌæn θrə pəˈmɔr faɪz /

especially British, anthropomorphise

verb (used with or without object)

anthropomorphized, anthropomorphizing

1. to ascribe human form or attributes to (an animal, plant, material object, etc.).

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anthropomorphize British  

/ ˌænθrəpəˈmɔːfaɪz /

verb

1. to attribute or ascribe human form or behaviour to (a god, animal, object, etc)

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Other Word Forms

• anthropomorphization
  noun

Etymology

Origin of anthropomorphize

First recorded in 1835–45; anthropomorph(ic) ( def. ) + -ize

Explanation

When you talk about a thing or animal as if it were human, you're anthropomorphizing it. The Easter Bunny is an anthropomorphized rabbit. People anthropomorphize all the time. If you've ever seen a dog in a sweater, that's a small case of an owner anthropomorphizing his pet. A cartoon dog who talks is a bigger case of anthropomorphizing. Shel Silverstein's book The Giving Tree anthropomorphizes the tree — the tree acts as if it were a person. It may seem kind of bizarre, but treating non-human things as human is a way of imagining another point of view.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

anthropomorphize anthropomorphized anthropomorphizing

"Even the instances that did anthropomorphize AI varied widely in strength."

From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026

Humans have a tendency to anthropomorphize animals and even inanimate objects, says Ayanna Howard, dean of Ohio State University’s College of Engineering and a roboticist who has researched why humans blindly trust machines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

To call a river a person is not to anthropomorphize water, but rather to widen and deepen the category of ‘person’.

From Salon ● May 28, 2025

“I started thinking about how to include my coping mechanisms and make everyone a character and kind of anthropomorphize my brain.”

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024

Charles was always one to anthropomorphize creatures, seeds, rocks even, and could be overheard talking to them as if they understood.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

Eventually, he finds himself inside a barn with anthropomorphized hay and other frights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

In both cases, they discovered that the bulk of people found the imperfect produce more appealing, and were more open to purchasing it when it had been anthropomorphized.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2024

In the film version of “Robot Dreams,” the background characters, all anthropomorphized animals, have distinct looks: a lion with a boombox, a wiener dog selling franks and some mischievous rabbits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

CEOs have been talking and certainly thinking like anthropomorphized copies of Atlas Shrugged for decades.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2023

All the accounts of a personal creator are based merely on anthropomorphized versions of the text 'desire is the seed.'

From The Religions of India Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume 1, Edited by Morris Jastrow by Hopkins, Edward Washburn

“Like, ‘Let’s all think for a second about anthropomorphizing trains.’

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

She calls the chatbot “it” but says she also finds anthropomorphizing the model helpful for her work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026

Others may warn that anthropomorphizing machines could lead to a neglect of human needs, particularly if corporations exploit sentimental attachment or dependence for profit, as has been the case with social media.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2025

“I don’t like anthropomorphizing AI,” Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella told Bloomberg Television on Monday, referring to the practice of using verbs and nouns to describe AI that are typically reserved for people.

From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024

You may see imaginative children every day anthropomorphizing.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah