Definition

1. Verb (transitive):

   • To make brutal, unfeeling, or inhuman: To cause someone or something to lose humane qualities, becoming cruel or insensitive.
   • To treat brutally: To subject someone to cruel, violent, or harsh treatment.

2. Verb (intransitive, rare):

   • To become brutal or insensitive and unfeeling: To undergo a process where one loses compassion and becomes cruel.

Usage Examples

• Transitive verb (to make brutal):

  • The horrors of war can brutalise even the most gentle souls.
  • A system that prioritises profit over people will eventually brutalise its managers.

• Transitive verb (to treat brutally):

  • The guards were accused of brutalising the prisoners.
  • Protesters claimed the police used excessive force to brutalise the crowd.

• Intransitive verb (to become brutal):

  • After years in that toxic environment, he had completely brutalised. (Note: This intransitive use is less common.)

Advanced Usage

• In sociological or psychological contexts: The term is often used to describe the dehumanising effects of institutions, violence, or extreme conditions on individuals or groups.

  • The study examined how prolonged isolation can brutalise a person's psyche.

• In legal or human rights discourse: Used to describe acts of severe mistreatment.

  • The report documents how the regime brutalises its political opponents.

Variants and Related Words

• Brutalize: The preferred spelling in American English. Both "brutalise" and "brutalize" are correct, with the "s" spelling being more common in British English.
• Brutalisation/Brutalization (noun): The act or process of making or becoming brutal.
  • The brutalisation of the soldiers was a tragic consequence of the conflict.
• Brutal (adjective): Savagely violent, cruel, or harsh.
• Brutality (noun): Savage physical violence; cruel and harsh treatment.

Synonyms

• Dehumanise: To deprive of positive human qualities.
• Desensitise: To make less sensitive or responsive, especially to violence or suffering.
• Savage: (verb) To attack ferociously.
• Mistreat: To treat badly or cruelly.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "Brutalise" itself does not commonly form phrasal verbs. Its meaning is typically contained in the single word.) - To brutalise someone into something: To use brutal treatment to force a change or compliance (a constructed phrase, not a standard phrasal verb). - The captors tried to brutalise him into submission.

Related Idioms

(Note: There are no common idioms centred solely on the word "brutalise.") - The concept relates to ideas expressed in idioms like: - "Harden someone's heart": To make someone less sympathetic. - "Beat into submission": To use violence to force obedience.

Verb

1. become brutal or insensitive and unfeeling
2. make brutal, unfeeling, or inhuman
   • Life in the camps had brutalized him
3. treat brutally