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Glite Dictionary
🪓 To become uncivilized 🪓 To make uncivilized
to barbarize

to barbarize

9.5
To cause people to act in a violent or rude way
  • verb
  • /ˈbɑːrbəraɪz/
translation icon : barbarizar
  • The idea that the process of conquering Algeria would in turn "barbarize" French forces was frequently voiced during the 1840s and came to prominence in mainstream commentary on the June Days of 1848.

Examples

  • The harsh conditions of war seemed to barbarize the soldiers, making them act in ways they would normally never consider.

  • He was worried that the violent movie might barbarize young viewers, leading them to mimic aggressive behavior.

  • Some critics argue that excessive screen time can barbarize children, causing them to lose their sense of empathy.

Synonyms

to brutalize
vsto barbarize
  • Offensive
34 7.7

Treat someone cruelly with violence or make them numb to suffering

emphasizes rough or uncivilized behaviour or speech rather than physical cruelty
to dehumanize
vsto barbarize
  • Formal
24 7.5

To treat a person as if they are not human and take away their dignity

describes crude or savage conduct or speech not just denying personhood
to bestialize
vsto barbarize
  • NSFW
9.9

Make a person or group lose human feelings and act like a cruel animal

is more about becoming crude and uncivilized in behaviour or language
to animalize
vsto barbarize
  • Offensive
9.7

Make someone cruel and act without human feelings

focuses on crude or uncivilized actions or speech rather than loss of humanity

Antonyms

to refine
93 4.0

Make something better by making a few small changes

to civilize
10 4.4

Make a person or group more polite and socially aware

How Barbaric

to dehumanize
  • Formal
24 7.5
to brutalize
  • Offensive
34 7.7
to barbarize
9.5
to vulgarize
  • US
1 8.4
to coarsen
2 6.5

Surface Forms

barbarize infinitive
barbarized past
barbarized past participle
barbarizing present participle
barbarizes third person singular

Morphology

barbarize = barbarian (transparent) = barbar + ize

The verb is formed by the productive suffix '-ize' meaning 'make' applied to the stem 'barbar-' (as in 'barbarian'/'barbaric'), so the meaning 'to make savage/uncivilized' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Barbarize comes from the ancient Greek word barbaros, which meant 'foreign' and even copies the sound 'bar-bar' people thought strange speech made. You can see the same idea in barbarian and barbaric, so to barbarize is to make language or behavior rough, crude, or uncivilized.