Dictionary.com

depersonalize

[ dee-pur-suh-nl-ahyz ]
/ diˈpɜr sə nlˌaɪz /
Save This Word!

verb (used with object), de·per·son·al·ized, de·per·son·al·iz·ing.
to make impersonal.
to deprive of personality or individuality: a mechanistic society that is depersonalizing its members.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Also especially British, de·per·son·al·ise .

Origin of depersonalize

First recorded in 1865–70; de- + personalize
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use depersonalize in a sentence

  • This belief runs counter to modern thought, governed as it is by the tendency to depersonalize existence.

  • In them the whole effort of the speaker was really to restrain, to moderate, to depersonalize the voice of faith.

    Robert Elsmere|Mrs. Humphry Ward
  • In thus universalizing my moral will, I wholly depersonalize it.

    The Behavior of Crowds|Everett Dean Martin

British Dictionary definitions for depersonalize

depersonalize

depersonalise

/ (dɪˈpɜːsnəˌlaɪz) /

verb (tr)
to deprive (a person, organization, system, etc) of individual or personal qualities; render impersonal
to cause (someone) to lose his sense of personal identity

Word Origin for depersonalize

C19: from de- + personal + -ize
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK