verb
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to punish or discriminate against selectively or unfairly
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to make a victim of
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to kill as or in a manner resembling a sacrificial victim
Related Words
See cheat.
Other Word Forms
- unvictimized adjective
- victimization noun
- victimizer noun
Etymology
Origin of victimize
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.
"Belated fixes cannot undo this harm. We must hold Big Tech accountable for giving abusers the power to victimize women and girls at the click of a button," Ahmed said.
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
“It’s called gift card draining and these scammers have found several slick ways to victimize unsuspecting shoppers,” Hahn said.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 23, 2024
He wants to pretend that he's the most perfect man who ever lived and that anyone who says otherwise has some secret agenda to victimize him.
From Salon • May 6, 2024
Microsoft said it discovered Russian cyberattackers leveraging the company’s conferencing platform to victimize espionage targets, including government accounts.
From Washington Times • Aug. 3, 2023
Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
