unhumanize
Definition
- Verb:
- To deprive of human qualities: "unhumanize" means to strip someone or something of human characteristics, such as compassion, empathy, or moral sensibility; to make inhuman or dehumanize.
Usage Examples
- Verb:
- The harsh conditions of the prison system can unhumanize even the most kind-hearted individuals. (Deprive them of humane feelings.)
- War has a tendency to unhumanize soldiers, making them see enemies as objects rather than people. (Strip away human compassion.)
- Modern technology might unhumanize our interactions if we rely too much on screens. (Remove the personal, human element.)
Advanced Usage
"to unhumanize oneself": to voluntarily abandon humane traits or behavior.
- He chose to unhumanize himself by ignoring the suffering around him. (He deliberately became less compassionate.)
"to be unhumanized": to be made inhuman by external forces.
- The slaves were systematically unhumanized by their captors. (They were treated as less than human.)
Variants and Related Words
Unhumanized (adj): having been deprived of human qualities; dehumanized.
- The unhumanized prisoners showed no emotion. (They had lost their human sensitivity.)
Unhumanizing (adj): tending to deprive of human qualities.
- The unhumanizing effects of poverty are well documented. (Poverty strips people of human dignity.)
Synonyms
- Dehumanize: to deprive of human qualities or individuality.
- Brutalize: to make cruel or violent; to strip of moral refinement.
- Depersonalize: to treat as if without human personality.
Related Idioms
To turn someone into a machine: to make someone act without emotion or humanity.
- The factory work turned him into a machine, unhumanizing his spirit. (Made him mechanical and unfeeling.)
To lose one's humanity: to become cruel or indifferent.
- After years of conflict, he lost his humanity and became unhumanized. (He became inhumane.)