demonize

verb

de·​mon·​ize ˈdē-mə-ˌnīz 

demonized; demonizing; demonizes

transitive verb

: to portray (someone or something) as evil or as worthy of contempt or blame : vilify

But the Senate hearings have a broader purpose than exposing I.R.S. sins. They are a central element in a campaign by Congressional Republicans to demonize the tax agency, already the least loved of all Government bureaucracies.

—John M. Broder

The point is not to demonize business leaders. Their reasons for not hiring make eminent sense, given the incentives of the marketplace and the imperative to remain competitive.

—Zachary Karabell

Violence in the media has become the whipping boy of choice in these hypocritical times. It's easier to demonize a movie screen than to deal with the thorny issues of crime, racism, drugs, poverty and gun control.

—Peter Travers

For those who would forge a new environmental ethic, there is a constant temptation to demonize technology and deify nature.

—Gina Maranto

demonization

ˌdē-mə-nə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

plural demonizations

In the Washington of Clinton and Gingrich, Dole and Buchanan, … the demonization of one's political foes has reached an epic frenzy.

—Stryker McGuire and David Ansen

Examples of demonize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For over a century, civil rights leader Marcus Mosiah Garvey was demonized, misunderstood and left to the interpretations of the history books after being convicted of mail fraud in 1923 and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by a federal court in the United States. —Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 20 Jan. 2025

These political snubs, though, are part of a larger pattern: progressives demonizing Trump and his followers, and recoiling at any contact with them. —John Blake, CNN, 19 Jan. 2025

American coverage has also been distorted by a massive campaign aimed at demonizing any and all critique of Netanyahu and his Likud Party as antisemitism. —Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 15 Jan. 2025

On Sunday, several lawmakers from Yoon’s conservative People Power Party attended a rally held by Jeon Kwang-hoon, an ultraconservative pastor who has stirred controversy for demonizing Muslims and advocating the institutionalization of gay people. —Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above