dehumanization

American  

[dee-hyoo-muh-nahy-zey-shuhn, -yoo-] / diˌhyu məˌnaɪˈzeɪ ʃən, -ˌyu- /

especially British, dehumanisation

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.

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Etymology

Origin of dehumanization

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.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025

"This is what starving people look like, rushing for food while risking their lives. This is what the dehumanization of millions of people looks like."

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2025

“There’s something about the internet and this culture right now where dehumanization is just rampant,” Cox says.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2025

Some of the educational matters missing still include how to understand lies, insults and dehumanization, why that is done, how it affects the brain and what to do about it.

From Salon • Nov. 14, 2024

Davis and Daisy were chatting back and forth about the dehumanization of Clone troopers, and Mychal jumped in to explain that Daisy was actually kind of a famous writer of Star Wars fan fiction.

From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green