civilize
verb (used with object)
to bring out of a savage, uneducated, or rude state; make civil; elevate in social and private life; enlighten; refine.
civilizing
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present participleof civilize.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
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.
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
“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
One might guess that the civilizing influence of Boomtown would form the arc of the season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 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
“I placed this young man with you,” she says to me in a terrible quiet voice, “in the hopes that you might provide a civilizing influence. It appears that I was gravely mistaken.”
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
