civilize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to bring out of savagery or barbarism into a state characteristic of civilization
-
to refine, educate, or enlighten
Other Word Forms
- civilizable adjective
- civilizatory adjective
- civilizer noun
- decivilize verb (used with object)
- noncivilizable adjective
- overcivilize verb
- uncivilizable adjective
- uncivilize verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of civilize
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.
“We have to civilize a market that has gotten out of control,” said Ms. Colau, a former housing activist who rose to power with an organization that fought against foreclosures.
From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2021
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
Without dogs, human beings would not have been able to civilize, as they did.
From Salon • Nov. 10, 2019
But their aim is the same: to drag resplendent nature indoors to hyperbolize and civilize its beauty.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2018
Then Miss Philips went to school and told Mr. Crabtree that she had a plan to civilize the Herdmans or, at least, one of them.
From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson
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.
