civilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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civilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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civilized,
past participle, past
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civilizing
present participle
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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-ize
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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:
In “Panorama,” two dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet, Guillaume Diop and Germain Louvet, and one from the cabaret world, Soa de Muse, attempt to civilize the mural in reverse.
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
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
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
He seized and tamed a continent with a hand of iron; he civilizes and controls it with a touch of velvet.
From Model Speeches for Practise by Grenville Kleiser
“I imagine the rest of the world, the civilized world, will see this and have the same response that I did,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
"Such behavior should not be tolerated in the civilized world," Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo said in a statement, thanking US judicial authorities for "their assistance and protection of our citizens."
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
“There used to be a pillory in every civilized town,” Pattinson’s Hansen remarks about the state of justice.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
This is a civilized world we live in now.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
It is one thing to hope for someone to come when things are civilized, when there are other people around, too.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
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
Love, in Marivaux’s world, is a civilizing force — much to the fairy’s fury.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2024
“They believed that their society was making progress, that it was gaining greater control over nature, that they were becoming more civilized and were civilizing the environment around them,” Golinski said.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 26, 2023
One might guess that the civilizing influence of Boomtown would form the arc of the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2023
Cinna and Portia seem to have a civilizing effect on Haymitch and Effie.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
