1
as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being
even three years in a prison camp did not brutalize him
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
Red Cross workers reported that prisoners had been brutalized
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Recent Examples of brutalize
Gunther even brutalized Jimmy while Jay was strapped to a ring rope, unable to assist his brother.
—
Shaheem Reid, Variety, 19 Apr. 2025
The sixth emperor of the famed Mughal dynasty, he is considered by many detractors to be a tyrant who brutalized women, razed Hindu temples, forced religious conversions and waged wars against Hindu and Sikh rulers.
—Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 18 Apr. 2025
Pitching was supposed to be the hallmark of this year’s club, but it’s been brutalized because of injuries.
—Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Images of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators being tear-gassed, shot, and otherwise brutalized spread around the globe.
—Ben Ehrenreich, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Shaheem Reid, Variety, 19 Apr. 2025
The sixth emperor of the famed Mughal dynasty, he is considered by many detractors to be a tyrant who brutalized women, razed Hindu temples, forced religious conversions and waged wars against Hindu and Sikh rulers.
—Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 18 Apr. 2025
Pitching was supposed to be the hallmark of this year’s club, but it’s been brutalized because of injuries.
—Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Images of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators being tear-gassed, shot, and otherwise brutalized spread around the globe.
—Ben Ehrenreich, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
Verb
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And after Trump’s attempts to humiliate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, the lure of the White House is waning.—
Stephen Collinson,
CNN Money,
31 May 2025
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Simone Inzaghi really needs the win here — his Italian side finished one point behind Serie A champ Napoli and was humiliated by rival AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semifinal.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
Verb
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The bill was named after Trey Carlock, a Dallas native who died by suicide in 2019 at the age of 28 after being abused by a Missouri summer camp director.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
27 May 2025
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Two tribal nations filed a lawsuit saying that the federal government used the trust fund money of tribes to pay for boarding schools where generations of Native children were systematically abused.—
Graham Lee Brewer,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2025
Verb
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And a committed Marxist's cold-blooded murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. Wednesday night was the natural and inevitable consequence of a conscientious, years-long campaign to dehumanize Jews and otherize all supporters of the world's only Jewish state.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 May 2025
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Instead of addressing the state’s public health emergency, Georgia’s leaders have doubled down on cruel, dehumanizing policies that criminalize pregnancy and control women’s bodies.—
Jameelah Nasheed,
Essence,
21 May 2025
Verb
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After Daniel is bullied by his classmates, he is encouraged to take karate lessons to defend himself.—
Keith Langston,
People.com,
1 June 2025
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For Essiedu’s Snape, his story eventually leads to the revelation that he was relentlessly bullied by James Potter back in the ‘70s, hung upside down with magic at one point, and pining after Lily, James’ eventual wife.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
Verb
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As the film unfolds, Wilson finds out that Sterns, the movie's villain, has been the mastermind behind the entire plot and has been poisoning Ross with gamma rays via pills for years.—
Caroline Blair,
People.com,
28 May 2025
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Intermediately, because a member of Ethan’s team, Claire (Emmanuelle Béart) has poisoned Donloe, which results in Donloe having some pretty intense gastrointestinal reactions.—
Mike Ryan,
IndieWire,
27 May 2025
Verb
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The allegation that Afrikaners were being mistreated was at the center of an executive order Trump issued days later that cut all U.S. assistance to South Africa.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 May 2025
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Two shows on Netflix last year helped inject momentum into a slow-moving legal process, and new interest in the brothers’ fate was fueled by campaigns on TikTok and other social media by younger people who felt the brothers were mistreated in the 1990s.—
Tim Arango,
New York Times,
15 May 2025
Verb
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The idea of exploiting the Palestinian cause to oppress the Syrian people has been rejected.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2025
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No longer oppressed by external authority, we are instead crushed by the weight of limitless possibility.—
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Verb
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Investigators say the group allegedly lured the former business partner back from Italy to access his cryptocurrency account and then kidnapped and tortured him for weeks.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 May 2025
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According to the report, dissidents —including soldiers, opposition activists, human rights defenders, journalists and ordinary citizens— are being arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, tortured, and subjected to sham trials.—
Antonio Maria Delgado,
Miami Herald,
20 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Brutalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brutalize. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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