barbarize

[bahr-buh-rahyz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR barbarize ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), bar·ba·rized, bar·ba·riz·ing.

to make barbarous; brutalize; corrupt: foreign influences barbarizing the Latin language.

verb (used without object), bar·ba·rized, bar·ba·riz·ing.

to become barbarous; lapse into barbarism.

to use barbarisms in speaking or writing.

Also especially British, bar·ba·rise.

Origin of barbarize

1635–45; partly < Greek barbarízein, equivalent to bárbar(os) barbarian + -izein -ize; partly barbar(ous) + -ize

Related formsbar·ba·ri·za·tion, nounde·bar·ba·rize, verb (used with object), de·bar·ba·rized, de·bar·ba·riz·ing.un·bar·ba·rize, verb (used with object), un·bar·ba·rized, un·bar·ba·riz·ing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for barbarize

brutalize, automate, automatize, imbrute, robotize

Examples from the Web for barbarize

Historical Examples of barbarize

If the most effectual method of degrading woman be to barbarize man, the certain means of dignifying her is to christianize him.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II
Francis Augustus Cox
This might tend to barbarize, demoralize, and exasperate the whole mass and produce most deplorable consequences.
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
James D. Richardson
In this age, poverty tends to barbarize men; it shuts them out from the educational influences of our times.
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)
Theodore Parker

British Dictionary definitions for barbarize

barbarize

barbarise

verb

to make or become barbarous

to use barbarisms in (language)

Derived Formsbarbarization or barbarisation, noun

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