stigmatize

[ stig-muh-tahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, stig·ma·tized, stig·ma·tiz·ing.

1. to set some mark of disgrace or infamy upon:

   The crime of the father stigmatized the whole family.

2. to mark with a stigma or brand.
3. to produce stigmata, marks, spots, or the like, on.

stigmatize

/ ˈstɪɡməˌtaɪz /

verb

1. to mark out or describe (as something bad)
2. to mark with a stigma or stigmata

Derived Forms

• ˈstigmaˌtizer, noun
• ˌstigmatiˈzation, noun

Other Words From

• stigma·ti·zation noun
• stigma·tizer noun
• de·stigma·tize verb (used with object) destigmatized destigmatizing
• un·stigma·tized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stigmatize¹

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

Example Sentences

This finding suggests that child-free individuals may be stigmatized in the United States.

From No Straight News

There are some real cultural differences in terms of acceptance of self-care, and stigmatizing about fatigue.

From Freakonomics

Her childhood seeded an understanding of the women’s body, a conversation that can be stigmatized in many immigrant households.

From TechCrunch

Either way, not being able to get your partner pregnant has been stigmatized for millennia, with studies showing that in half of the cases in which couples can’t conceive, it’s a result of male infertility.

From Ozy

Many incorporated these stigmatizing experiences into how they felt about themselves.

From No Straight News

(These kind of comparisons, as the atheist writer Chris Stedman has noted, help stigmatize mental illness).

From The Daily Beast

I want to de-stigmatize this and get people access to this industry from an educational standpoint.

From The Daily Beast

We would stigmatize anyone who invested, in any way, in any of these banks.

From The Daily Beast

Yet he forebore to specify his injuries; saying, that to name them, would be to stigmatize the whole human race.

From Project Gutenberg

And it will be your fault and your crime if it ever returns,—a crime for which history will stigmatize you forever.

From Project Gutenberg

But naturally Mrs. Cleveland was shocked and outraged, and I made haste to stigmatize it as a lie out of whole cloth.

From Project Gutenberg

What term is strong enough to stigmatize such suicidal folly?

From Project Gutenberg

Let society stigmatize you, let it stamp its enmity upon you, but seek God's precepts.

From Project Gutenberg