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.
Like a savage watching his first civilized meal, I copied the leisurely gestures of the others as they passed bread and cheese and unhurriedly stirred their coffee.
From Literature
As if I would have anything so civilized.
From Literature
“Ottoman elites internalized and even embraced European ideas about their own Empire. These elites aspired to become Westernized, which they saw as civilized and modern.”
And maybe, one day, a thousand years in the future when we all lived on Mars and could shuttle back and forth like civilized people, I’d have the guts to text them first.
From Literature
“I leave for five minutes, and you resort to shouting? Please remember to keep this conversation civilized.”
From Literature
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.
