stigmatize

[stig-muh-tahyz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stigmatize ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), stig·ma·tized, stig·ma·tiz·ing.

to set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon: The crime of the father stigmatized the whole family.

to mark with a stigma or brand.

to produce stigmata, marks, spots, or the like, on.

Also especially British, stig·ma·tise.

Origin of stigmatize

1575–85; < Medieval Latin stigmatizāre, equivalent to stigmat- (see stigmatic) + -izāre -ize

Related formsstig·ma·ti·za·tion, nounstig·ma·tiz·er, nounde·stig·ma·tize, verb (used with object), de·stig·ma·tized, de·stig·ma·tiz·ing.un·stig·ma·tized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stigmatize

disgrace, stamp, denounce, defame, mark, characterize, tag, class, classify, designate

Examples from the Web for stigmatize

Historical Examples of stigmatize

It may seem small-minded and narrow to stigmatize such conduct as this.
The Fortunes Of Glencore
Charles James Lever
If I were to stigmatize such behavior, I should call it disgraceful.
A Romantic Young Lady
Robert Grant
What is it in domestic employ that degrades, that makes us stigmatize it as 'service'?
Imaginary Interviews
W. D. Howells
And it will be your fault and your crime if it ever returns,—a crime for which history will stigmatize you forever.
The Speeches (In Full) of the Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., and William O'Brien, M.P., on Home Rule, Delivered in Parliament, Feb. 16 and 17, 1888.
W. E. Gladstone
He loved to stigmatize the English as a nation of shop-keepers.
Caricature and Other Comic Art
James Parton.

British Dictionary definitions for stigmatize

stigmatize

stigmatise

verb (tr)

to mark out or describe (as something bad)

to mark with a stigma or stigmata

Derived Formsstigmatization or stigmatisation, nounstigmatizer or stigmatiser, noun

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

Word Origin and History for stigmatize

1580s, "to brand or tattoo," from Medieval Latin stigmatizare, from Greek stigmatizein, from stigmat- (see stigma). Meaning "to blemish" is from 1610s (figurative), 1630s (literal). Related: Stigmatized; stigmatizing.