Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To make brutal, unfeeling, or inhuman: To cause someone or something to lose human qualities of compassion, sensitivity, or refinement, becoming more like a beast.
   • To represent in the form of an animal: To depict or portray something using animal characteristics or imagery.

Usage and Examples

• Verb (transitive):
  • The harsh conditions of war can animalize even the most civilized people. (This shows the process of becoming brutal and insensitive.)
  • Some ancient myths animalize natural forces, portraying the wind as a wolf. (This shows representing something as an animal.)
  • The propaganda sought to animalize the enemy, stripping them of their humanity. (This illustrates making someone seem inhuman.)

Advanced Usage and Notes

• The term often carries a strong negative connotation, implying a degradation from a higher (human) state to a lower (animal) state in terms of behavior or morality.
• It can be used in sociological, psychological, or artistic contexts.
• The process of animalization (noun) is the state or result of being animalized.

Variants and Related Words

• Animalise: British English spelling variant.
• Animalization (noun): The act or process of animalizing.
• Brutalize: A close synonym, especially for the meaning of making someone brutal.
• Dehumanize: A related concept focusing specifically on the removal of human qualities.

Synonyms

• Brutalize: To make brutal.
• Dehumanize: To deprive of human qualities.
• Bestialize: To make like a beast.

Antonyms

• Humanize: To make humane or refined.
• Civilize: To bring to a more advanced or humane stage of social development.

Verb

1. become brutal or insensitive and unfeeling
2. make brutal, unfeeling, or inhuman
   • Life in the camps had brutalized him
3. represent in the form of an animal