dehumanization

especially British, de·hu·man·i·sa·tion

[dee-hyoo-muh-nahy-zey-shuhn, -yoo-]

noun

1. the act of regarding, representing, or treating a person or group as less than human.

   Dehumanization of the enemy is often what sustains the rationale for a war.

   Before trafficked humans are fully enslaved, they are drugged, tortured, and abused as part of the process of dehumanization.

2. the process of depriving a person or population of human qualities or attributes such as compassion, dignity, individuality, etc..

   When science is not touched by a sense of moral values, it works—as it has done fairly consistently over the past century—toward a complete dehumanization of the social order.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dehumanization¹

dehumaniz(e) ( def. ) + -ation ( def. )

Example Sentences

Above all, he teaches them to resist their dehumanization by the evil men who tore them from their homes and loved ones.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

“This shooting must serve as a wake-up call to the far-left that their rhetoric about ICE has consequences…The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Rampant dehumanization doesn’t just lead to greater hate and harassment against adults.

Read more on Salon

Like others, he described being regularly beaten with a wooden bat as part of a systematic campaign of dehumanization.

Read more on Salon

Drawing upon the lessons of history and the radical value of critical education, the Foro de Sevilla collective writes, “Auschwitz was much more than a concentration camp, it was a laboratory of dehumanization.”

Read more on Salon