civilize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to bring out of savagery or barbarism into a state characteristic of civilization
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to refine, educate, or enlighten
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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civilizernoun
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overcivilizeverb
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decivilizeverb (used with object)
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uncivilizeverb (used with object)
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civilizableadjective
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civilizatoryadjective
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noncivilizableadjective
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uncivilizableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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civilizesimple
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civilizessimple
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have civilizedperfect
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has civilizedperfect
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am civilizingprogressive
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are civilizingprogressive
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is civilizingprogressive
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have been civilizingperfect progressive
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has been civilizingperfect progressive
Past
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civilizedsimple
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had civilizedperfect
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was civilizingprogressive
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were civilizingprogressive
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had been civilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of civilize
Explanation
To civilize is to make someone or something more tame or refined, and less wild. You might try to civilize your younger brother by teaching him some table manners. You can attempt to civilize your crazy dog, so you can invite people over without having her jump on them and chew on their shoes. You can also civilize a person by teaching them to be more sophisticated or tasteful: "My aunt tried to civilize me by taking me to museums and ballets, but I preferred watching professional wrestling on TV." The Latin word civilis is at the root of civilized, meaning "befitting a citizen" or "courteous."
Vocabulary lists containing civilize
We the People: Civ
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List 4
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All My Sons
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
By the fifth century BCE, some of the larger villages of Macedon grew big enough to be considered cities, and elite Macedonians made efforts to civilize their country in the style of the southern Greeks.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
Most of “Darlin’ ” follows the title character, as she first resists the church’s plan to civilize her, then gradually begins to come around to the idea that she needs to be “saved.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2019
Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s very dark comedy, about an empathy coach trying to civilize an unwoke collection agency, gives its final notice.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2019
You can civilize pungent shoes, too, with products that employ apple cider vinegar, cedar or charcoal to absorb rather than mask the acrid smell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2018
Somewhere above, the rockets burned down to civilize a beautifully dead planet.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
We sense early on, from Mortensen’s delicate handling of their courtship, that this isn’t some musty rehash of the trope where she civilizes him and he domesticates her.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2024
But there she is, one of the immortal characters of literature, and how can you not fall in love with somebody who civilizes savage people by telling them stories?
From New York Times ● Sep. 4, 2015
Far from revealing our barbarism, fighting civilizes us, Gottschall writes.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2015
It opened up a discussion about anonymity, pseudonymity and whether using real names civilizes the Internet.
From Forbes ● Oct. 15, 2012
It perhaps is rather a waste of time arranging all these vases and baskets of flowers every day, but they are very nice to look at, and I think it civilizes one.”
From Six to Sixteen A Story for Girls by Ewing, Juliana Horatia Gatty
This is a civilized world we live in now.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Those are traits that help define a psychopath, someone who lives among us but doesn’t have the empathy and ethics necessary to behave in a civilized, or even safe, fashion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said External link “taxes are what we pay for civilized society,” suggesting we get what we pay for.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
In a statement, Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said that “the performing arts are a vital part of a civilized society.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
They had civilized furniture in neutral colors and daffodils around their flower beds.
From "Please Ignore Vera Dietz" by A.S. King
Heaney was born with a subject he often resisted, and “Digging” turns away from violence to the civilizing necessity of work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
Smith seems to want to say something about the civilizing influence of women and their survival in a world of unruly and domineering men.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025
“Never darken my door again!” he thunders old-fashionedly, as though he’s subconsciously aware that the writers Kirsi Vikman and Jimmy Karlsson are drawing on centuries of love stories about savage men and civilizing women.
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
He cited Philippine national hero Jose Rizal’s description of justice “as the foremost virtue of the civilizing races. It subdues the barbarous nations while injustice arouses the weakest.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
Mrs. Randall had passed many years before, and it was Alice’s thought that a woman would be a civilizing presence on the plantation.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
