objectify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to present as an object, especially of sight, touch, or other physical sense; make objective; externalize.
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to treat (a person) as an object or thing.
Women are objectified and their physical attributes highlighted in ways that do not apply to men.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of objectify
Explanation
To objectify someone is to treat them as an object rather than as a human being. If your teacher thinks children should be seen and not heard, you might say he objectifies kids. There are many different ways to objectify a person, including forcing them to be silent, focusing on just their physical body and not their mind, or implying that their appearance or outward beauty is the only important thing about them. You can also use this verb's original meaning, "to take something abstract and make it concrete." Artists objectify abstract feelings and emotions by turning them into physical works of art, for example.
Vocabulary lists containing objectify
Here to Stay
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"Myth as Structure in Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon" by A. Leslie Harris
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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.
See Examples For:
I don’t want Rodrigo or anyone else to surrender the babydoll dress because a culture that’s never needed an excuse to objectify girls is concerned that it might objectify girls.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
"It is unacceptable for any visitor, foreign or local, to exploit or objectify indigenous communities or their children for any purpose, including photography," the ministry said in a statement cited by Informanté newspaper.
From BBC ● May 21, 2025
According to the team's authors, attempts to standardise and objectify the development and evaluation of chemical reactions are still quite new and relatively uncommon.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 10, 2024
Including the topic in medical education could “counteract an ever-present risk of medical injustices” and “the tendency to objectify patients and research participants,” the commission’s co-chairs told Science.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 15, 2023
“My sweetheart. My Nicole, I’m sorry. I stole it from you to save you from letting them objectify you.”
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
“Gaza’s inhabitants are objectified, reduced to numbers or blurry concepts. The media rarely shows unfiltered images or personal stories, because doing so would be too confronting for most viewers,” he said.
From Slate ● May 30, 2025
The library apologized, saying that it had “further objectified and compromised the dignity of the human being whose remains were used for its binding.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2024
JT: Why is it important to both invite the viewer to feel like they’re being objectified — or like they’re the subject — and also exclude, or reinforce that exclusion somehow?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
“All I knew is that I never felt like it was enough. I questioned myself. I felt scrutinized, judged, objectified, often humiliated,” Fraser says.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 6, 2022
I hoped she didn’t think I objectified women.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
The "objectifying" language is evidence of a need for better education around misogyny and violence against women, Villanueva said.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
What’s key to remember is that this new wave of hype surrounding East Asian media is less keen on whitewashing or objectifying than it may have been during previous eras.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2025
When people don’t look deeper, they are objectifying you and not getting to know you as a human being.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
Song, on the other hand, finds that the term “identity” carries an objectifying connotation, as it fails to fully describe a person’s layered selfhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
According to Schopenhauer the world is idea, and this so called material environment is thought objectifying itself.
From The Head Voice and Other Problems Practical Talks on Singing by Clippinger, D. A. (David Alva)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
