stigmatize

American  

[stig-muh-tahyz] / ˈstɪg məˌtaɪz /

especially British, stigmatise

verb (used with object)

stigmatized, stigmatizing

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.

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stigmatize British  

/ ˈstɪɡməˌtaɪz /

verb

1. to mark out or describe (as something bad)

2. to mark with a stigma or stigmata

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Other Word Forms

• destigmatize verb (used with object)
• stigmatization noun
• stigmatizer noun
• unstigmatized adjective

Etymology

Origin of stigmatize

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

Example Sentences

Critics of involuntary civil-commitment programs argue they violate civil liberties and stigmatize mental illness.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

“I can accept myself and the world can still stigmatize me,” McMillan Cottom said.

From Salon • May 10, 2024

Virologists have also come to acknowledge that names can stigmatize people or places.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 3, 2024

“Our Board of Supervisors knows that these conditions beneath human dignity stigmatize and traumatize people and make all of us less safe.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2023

It is an error that the Texan rebellion was conceived in a spirit of sheer fraud upon Mexico; and writers who seek to stigmatize it thus are entirely ignorant of its origin.

From History of the War Between Mexico and the United States, with a Preliminary View of its Origin, Volume 1 by Mayer, Brantz