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depersonalize

[ dee-pur-suh-nl-ahyz ]
/ diˈpɜr sə nlˌaɪz /
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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.
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Also especially British, de·per·son·al·ise .

Origin of depersonalize

First recorded in 1865–70; de- + personalize

Words nearby depersonalize

dependent variable, depeople, De Pere, deperm, depersonalization, depersonalize, Depew, dephosphorylate, dephosphorylation, depict, depicted
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use depersonalize in a sentence

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

    The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians|G. G. Findlay

  • 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
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