barbarianize

American  

[bahr-bair-ee-uh-nahyz] / bɑrˈbɛər i əˌnaɪz /

especially British, barbarianise

verb (used with object)

barbarianized, barbarianizing

1. to make barbarian.

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Usage

What does barbarianize mean? To barbarianize something is to make it become crude and uncivilized. To barbarianize someone is to turn them into a barbarian—a person who’s crude and uncivilized.The term barbarian was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans to refer to any foreigner. In ancient and medieval times, it was variously used to refer to non-Greeks, non-Romans, and non-Christians.The term eventually became associated with a stereotypical image of barbarians as primitive and brutish. For example, movies and comic strips often depict people they call barbarians as dressing in animal skins and carrying simple weapons, like wooden clubs.Like the word savage, the word barbarian can be very offensive due to its use to dehumanize the people that it’s applied to, especially in a way that calls attention to their otherness or the supposed primitiveness of their culture or customs.Still, barbarian is often used in an exaggerated way to refer to a person who behaves in a way considered crude or brutish. This use of the word focuses on a person’s crude behavior and is not intended to imply any sense of foreignness. It’s often intended to be lighthearted and humorous.The related word barbarize means to make someone or something barbarous—uncivilized, crude, or cruel.Example: The dumbing down of culture barbarianizes us and makes us incapable of civil discourse. 

Etymology

Origin of barbarianize

First recorded in 1855–60; barbarian + -ize