dehumanize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to regard, represent, or treat (a person or group) as less than human.
Society still has a tendency to devalue and dehumanize those with disabilities and to suppress their voices.
-
to deprive of human qualities or attributes; divest of individuality.
Conformity dehumanized him.
verb
-
to deprive of human qualities
-
to render mechanical, artificial, or routine
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dehumanizesimple
-
dehumanizessimple
-
have dehumanizedperfect
-
has dehumanizedperfect
-
am dehumanizingprogressive
-
are dehumanizingprogressive
-
is dehumanizingprogressive
-
have been dehumanizingperfect progressive
-
has been dehumanizingperfect progressive
Past
-
dehumanizedsimple
-
had dehumanizedperfect
-
was dehumanizingprogressive
-
were dehumanizingprogressive
-
had been dehumanizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dehumanize
Explanation
To dehumanize someone is to make them either feel or appear somehow less than human. Laboring under terrible conditions can dehumanize workers, making them feel more like robots than people. War can dehumanize people in a few different ways. Violent or seemingly endless fighting might dehumanize soldiers, causing them to stop feeling normal human emotions. War propaganda might dehumanize the enemy, making people more willing to fight against and kill them. At the heart of dehumanize is human, and its Latin root humanus, which means both "human" and "humane, kind, or civilized."
Vocabulary lists containing dehumanize
March: Book One
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
You Call This Democracy?
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“We need to support artists, not dehumanize them.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Social media has a way of exacerbating preexisting social tensions and divisions, making it easier to dehumanize the other side and engage in a kind of verbal warfare.
From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025
But history also shows us what happens when we dehumanize, depersonalize.
From Salon ● May 26, 2024
Ms. Olson added in a statement that the verdict and the damages sent “the clear message that truth matters, that facts matter, and that you can’t dehumanize and damage someone to suit your own purposes.”
From New York Times ● May 26, 2024
Treating differences as a threat enables one society to dehumanize the other.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
“When political leaders, influencers, and those with a large social platform choose language that dehumanizes communities, families get hurt, and hate crimes rise.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2024
“The use of the word ‘inmate’ further dehumanizes and demoralizes them,” he said in Ms. Hochul’s press release.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 9, 2022
“It really dehumanizes the events, the consequences of shootings, and makes it all into a joke,” said Whitney Phillips, a longtime disinformation researcher.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022
Twitter prohibits language that dehumanizes people on the basis of religion and national origin.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 10, 2021
As far as it can do so, it dehumanizes man, and treats him as a thing without a soul.
From Three Prize Essays on American Slavery by Baldwin, A.C.
The press corps has a job to do, but observers say its presence and callous pursuit of images that will sell can make immigrants feel dehumanized.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2025
“And the hostages have been dehumanized every day since. But that cannot be a license to dehumanize others.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
He wasn’t looking at her, wasn’t focused on her, had dehumanized her in his mind and was treating her as less than a service worker should treat their customer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
In Season 2, Thorfinn is sold off into slavery where he is dehumanized further, uttering the gut-wrenching line, “Not a single good thing has happened to me in my entire life.”
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2023
“People as far on the fringes as you can get, completely dehumanized by ‘normal’ society.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Pope Leo XIV on Monday warned that AI risked enshrining “an anti-human vision,” replacing jobs with dehumanizing work and consuming vast amounts of water and energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
They added that they "oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people" and "pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence".
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2025
“The entire process of getting and keeping an entry-level job has become a grueling and dehumanizing ordeal over the past decade,” the author writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2025
But the cynicism that has always thrummed underneath his high-concept comedies — the dehumanizing algorithms, the rapacious finance system — is more prominent in this slim, potent novel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2025
It is dehumanizing, for it forces one to adapt by becoming more self- contained and insulated.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
