1
as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
even three years in a prison camp did not brutalize him
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
Red Cross workers reported that prisoners had been brutalized
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Recent Examples of brutalize
He was physically and mentally brutalized by a sociopathic father.
—
Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2025
Those who have been brutalized shall brutalize others in turn.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 18 Dec. 2024
On the page, Serafina is an archetypical Williams heroine — a woman who feels the world too deeply and is therefore brutalized by its harsh truths and petty cruelties (e.g. Maggie the Cat, Blanche DuBois, Amanda Wingfield).
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025
The Fed’s aggressive rate hikes brutalized any poor soul lugging a big balance.
—Nerdwallet, Twin Cities, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 16 Jan. 2025
Those who have been brutalized shall brutalize others in turn.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 18 Dec. 2024
On the page, Serafina is an archetypical Williams heroine — a woman who feels the world too deeply and is therefore brutalized by its harsh truths and petty cruelties (e.g. Maggie the Cat, Blanche DuBois, Amanda Wingfield).
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025
The Fed’s aggressive rate hikes brutalized any poor soul lugging a big balance.
—Nerdwallet, Twin Cities, 27 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
Verb
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Trump World even humiliated Abe by letting it be known that Abe had nominated the U.S. leader for a Nobel Peace Prize.—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
29 Mar. 2025
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The temptation for Russia to humiliate London and Paris - by breaking any ceasefire with an attack carried out hundreds of miles away from British and French troops stuck in the capital - could prove hard to resist.—
Andrew Carey,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Authorities subsequently found that the boy and Ruby's 10-year-old daughter had been seriously abused.—
Liam Quinn,
People.com,
28 Mar. 2025
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In May 2023, Attorney General Kwame Raoul published a 696-page report, which found that over about seven decades, at least 1,997 children have been abused by 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers across the state’s dioceses.—
Natalie Demaree,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Frankenstein and Pinocchio explore the fraught dynamic between creator and creation, beings designed to mirror humanity while dehumanized for remaining fundamentally other.—
Silvia Park,
TIME,
10 Mar. 2025
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Lucy accepts all the surgeries and chemotherapies her doctors suggest but is left feeling dehumanized and broken.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA TODAY,
6 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Related article China vows to counter Trump’s ‘bullying’ tariffs as global trade war escalates Another Australian territory targeted by tariffs is the Cocos Islands.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
3 Apr. 2025
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Harvard University settled two lawsuits claiming that the school failed to stop antisemitic harassment and bullying on campus the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.—
Carolyn Stein,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Until Henry momentarily excuses himself from the table, that is, and the person or persons behind these winky-wink messages tell her to poison Henry ASAP or the menacing guy currently hiding in her apartment will kill her boy.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
10 Apr. 2025
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Calls to poison control centers for pediatric melatonin ingestion increased 530 percent between 2012 and 2021, according to one analysis published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
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But Lively did believe she had been harassed and mistreated on set, the filing claims, making the defamation accusation false.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA TODAY,
20 Mar. 2025
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In a series of posts on X Monday (March 17), the star clapped back at critics of her new music before calling out the way Black women have historically been mistreated.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
18 Mar. 2025
Verb
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First, students are primed through exposure to narratives that depict a binary world of oppressors and oppressed.—
Kevin Waldman,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2025
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Remember Mandela, who rose from the ashes of prison to become the president of South Africa, a country that had oppressed him and his people for decades.—
Bea L. Hines,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The six defendants allegedly began holding a man against his will on March 14 and proceeded to torture him at a Red Roof Inn in Maumee, Ohio, according to an arrest warrant.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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Eddie quickly discovers that he was lured into the vehicle by William (Anthony Hopkins), the car's wealthy sociopathic owner who tortures criminals (and mocks them over the car's phone) after a life-changing encounter with muggers.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
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