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to brutalize

to brutalize

34 7.7
Treat someone cruelly with violence or make them numb to suffering
  • verb
  • /ˈbruːtəˌlaɪz/
  • Offensive
translation icon : brutalizar
  • She is working to help children who have been brutalized by war and violence find peace.
  • brutalized and humiliated
  • brutalized men
  • brutalized children

So often people are just brutalized by the thoughts that go through their heads.

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Examples

  • America has a long history of oppressing and brutalizing many peoples around the world.

    Blog text (27)
  • And then what we're going to do is we're going to continue to charge for it, just brutalizing these guys.

  • Plus, it's harder to brutalize people when you live in the same community.

  • We could just say, you know, go ahead and brutalize Ukraine and, and, and take it over.

  • And whichever group was strongest and had the most numbers would brutalize the groups with the least numbers.

  • A man who has no problem brutalizing his fellow man to get his way.

  • Your son brutalized our son.

  • So often people are just brutalized by the thoughts that go through their heads.

  • Pimps, having even more power, continue threatening and brutalizing the women they control.

    Academic text (2003)
  • For months, riot police intimidated them, attacked them, brutalized them, and made their lives a living hell.

    Blog text (27)

Synonyms

to torture
vsto brutalize
  • Offensive
582 5.7

To cause someone to feel severe physical or emotional pain, often on purpose

is broader, including making someone cruel by repeated exposure
to abuse
vsto brutalize
  • NSFW
344 3.7

To treat a person or animal cruelly to harm them

adds the idea of extreme violence and hardening over time
to terrorize
vsto brutalize
  • NSFW
145 6.7

To frighten someone very much by using threats or violence

includes causing cruelty and emotional numbness through repeated violence
to victimize
vsto brutalize
  • US
70 6.0

Treat someone cruelly or unfairly so they suffer

implies active cruelty plus long term emotional hardening
to mistreat
vsto brutalize
63 2.9

To be cruel to people or animals

carries stronger violence and a process of making them cruel
to crucify
vsto brutalize
  • NSFW
32 8.0

To criticize someone or something very harshly, often in public

is broader, involving physical violence and long term brutalizing effects
to dehumanize
vsto brutalize
  • Formal
24 7.5

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

adds physical violence and aims to make people cruel or insensitive
to tyrannize
vsto brutalize
  • US
2 8.4

To treat people in a cruel and unfair way

is not limited to ruling, focuses on cruelty and brutalizing effect
to martyrize
vsto brutalize
  • Offensive
9.9

To make someone suffer or kill them because of their beliefs

focuses more on producing cruelty or insensitivity over time
to ill-treat
vsto brutalize
  • NSFW
5.2

Behave towards a person or animal in a cruel, unfair way

emphasizes harsher violence and causing insensitivity over time
to animalize
vsto brutalize
  • Offensive
9.7

Make someone cruel and act without human feelings

is very similar but also stresses violent treatment causing cruelty
to bestialize
vsto brutalize
  • NSFW
9.9

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

is similar but focuses on treatment that produces cruelty through violence
to barbarize
vsto brutalize
9.5

To make language rude or violent

applies more to harsh violence that builds cruelty in people

Antonyms

25 4.8

To make something kinder and more caring toward people

10 4.4

Make a person or group more polite and socially aware

How Cruel

to torture
  • Offensive
582 5.7
to brutalize
  • Offensive
34 7.7
to abuse
  • NSFW
344 3.7
to mistreat
63 2.9

Surface Forms

brutalize infinitive
brutalized past
brutalized past participle
brutalizing present participle
brutalizes third person singular

Morphology

brutalize = brutal (transparent) = brutal + ize

Clear derivation from the adjective 'brutal' with the productive verb-forming suffix '-ize' meaning 'to make or become brutal'.

Etymology

Brutalize comes from the simple word brute, which once meant 'animal-like' or 'very rough'. So, to brutalize someone is to treat them like a 'brute' — with cruelty and violence, or to make them cruel.