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Glite Dictionary
to bestialize

to bestialize

9.9
Make a person or group lose human feelings and act like a cruel animal
  • verb
  • /ˈbɛstɪəˌlaɪz/
  • NSFW
translation icon : bestializar
  • Exposure to violence and neglect can bestialize children, leading to a loss of compassion and empathy.

Examples

  • The propaganda used in the campaign aimed to bestialize the enemy, portraying them as less than human.

  • The lived experience conveyed in these passages is one of extreme hardship and of a nature that bestializes human beings.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The harsh conditions in the prison bestialize the inmates, stripping them of their humanity.

Synonyms

to brutalize
vsto bestialize
  • Offensive
34 7.7

Treat someone cruelly with violence or make them numb to suffering

focuses on causing depravity and loss of human qualities
to dehumanize
vsto bestialize
  • Formal
24 7.5

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

frames loss as becoming brutish rather than only losing dignity
to cauterize
vsto bestialize
  • US
1 8.9

To make someone less able to feel sadness, guilt, or pity

produces depravity and loss of human qualities rather than only numbness
to animalize
vsto bestialize
  • Offensive
9.7

Make someone cruel and act without human feelings

is the identical meaning expressed as an alternative form
to barbarize
vsto bestialize
9.5

To make language rude or violent

implies turning into a depraved brutish state rather than mere rudeness

Antonyms

to civilize
10 4.4

Make a person or group more polite and socially aware

How Dehumanizing

to dehumanize
  • Formal
24 7.5
to bestialize
  • NSFW
9.9
to brutalize
  • Offensive
34 7.7
to degrade
55 5.1

Surface Forms

bestialize infinitive
bestialized past
bestialized past participle
bestializing present participle
bestializes third person singular

Morphology

bestialize = bestial (transparent) = bestial + ize

Formed by adding the productive verb-forming suffix '-ize' to the adjective 'bestial', so the meaning 'to make bestial' is directly predictable.

Etymology

Bestialize comes from bestial, which comes from Latin bestia 'beast', plus the ending -ize 'to make'. So to bestialize someone is to 'make' them like a beast, taking away their human qualities and making them cruel or brutal.