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Glite Dictionary
😈 Making less human 🦁 Showing as animal
animalization

animalization

9.9
Making someone seem cruel and less human
  • noun
  • /ˌænɪməlɪˈzeɪʃən/
  • Offensive
translation icon : deshumanización
  • The animalization of prisoners in the concentration camp dehumanized them and removed all semblance of dignity.

Examples

  • And no, most white feminist bloggers were not covering them at feminist issues despite the way they ripped apart families, denied women access to health care, and resulted in the violation and animalization of women who travel here and women who work here every day.

    Blog text (14)

  • But the animalization of humankind will inevitably have consequences that stretch well beyond the screens on which we view Internet porn.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Her harsh treatment of the workers led to an animalization of their spirits, making them feel worthless and brutalized.

  • The documentary highlighted the animalization of refugees, portraying them as less than human in the eyes of society.

Synonyms

dehumanization
vsanimalization
  • Offensive
4 7.8

Treating people like objects or animals and hurting their dignity

focuses specifically on causing cruelty and loss of normal human traits
brutalization
vsanimalization
  • Offensive
1 8.4

An act of treating someone very cruelly or making them cruel through violence

emphasizes becoming cruel by degrading treatment rather than only violent acts
depersonalization
vsanimalization
1 9.9

A person is treated like an object and loses their personal qualities

involves causing cruelty and removing normal human qualities
barbarization
vsanimalization
9.9

A process that makes people or a society less civilized

is about making individuals cruel and stripped of human qualities rather than cultural decline

Antonyms

humanization
2 6.3

To make something seem more like a real person with feelings

How Dehumanizing

dehumanization
  • Offensive
4 7.8
animalization
  • Offensive
9.9
degradation
16 6.3
othering
  • Offensive
1 8.8

Surface Forms

animalization singular
animalizations plural

Morphology

animalization = animalize (transparent) = animal + ize + ation

The noun is formed from the verb 'animalize' (+ -ation), and 'animalize' is directly built from 'animal' + -ize, so the process meaning ('making X animal') is derivable.

Etymology

The word animalization comes from animal, a Latin word meaning 'living being' or 'breath', plus the parts -ize and -ation that mean 'to make' and 'a process'. A helpful image is 'making' a person into an animal, which explains why animalization means treating someone as less than human or cruelly.