illiberalize
Definition
- Verb (transitive):
- To make narrow-minded or ungenerous: "illiberalize" means to cause someone or something to become less tolerant, less generous, or less broad-minded in attitude or policy.
- To make mean or petty: It can also mean to render someone or something stingy, small-minded, or lacking in liberality (openness and generosity).
Usage Examples
- (His tolerant perspective became narrow and ungenerous.)
- (Hardship fosters stinginess and narrowness.)
- (The laws made the system less liberal and more restrictive.)
Advanced Usage
"to illiberalize one's thinking": to deliberately make one's own thoughts or beliefs less open or generous.
- He chose to illiberalize his thinking to fit in with the intolerant group. (He adopted narrower views to conform.)
"to illiberalize a policy": to change a policy to become more restrictive or less inclusive.
- The government moved to illiberalize immigration rules, reducing the number of visas. (The policy became less generous.)
Variants and Related Words
Illiberal (adj): narrow-minded; not generous; not in accord with liberal principles.
- His illiberal attitude towards new ideas alienated his colleagues. (His narrow-mindedness caused problems.)
Illiberality (n): the quality or state of being narrow-minded or ungenerous.
- The illiberality of the regime was evident in its censorship laws. (The regime's lack of openness was clear.)
Illiberalization (n): the process of making something illiberal.
- The illiberalization of the media led to a decline in free expression. (The process of restricting media freedom.)
Synonyms
- Narrow: to make or become limited in scope or outlook.
- Restrict: to limit or confine in terms of freedom or generosity.
- Stint: to be sparing or ungenerous (less common, often used reflexively).
- Bigot: to make prejudiced (informal, not a direct synonym but related in effect).
Phrasal Verbs
- Illiberalize away: (rare) to eliminate liberal qualities through the process of illiberalizing.
- The new leadership tried to illiberalize away the progressive reforms. (They removed liberal elements.)
Related Idioms
To close one's mind: to become unwilling to consider new ideas or differing opinions.
- He illiberalized so much that he closed his mind to any debate. (His narrow-mindedness prevented open discussion.)
To tighten the purse strings: to become less generous with money (related to the "mean" sense).
- The company illiberalized its budget, tightening the purse strings on all departments. (It became stingy.)