victimize

/'viktimaiz/ Cách viết khác : (victimise) /'viktimaiz/

Thân thiện

The con-man tried to victimize the elderly woman with a fake investment scheme.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To treat someone unfairly or make them suffer, especially by deceiving them or taking advantage of their trust. This involves causing someone to become a victim of a harmful, dishonest, or unjust act.
   • To single someone out for cruel or unjust treatment. This meaning focuses on punishing or targeting a person or group unfairly.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:
  • The scam artists victimize elderly people by pretending to be from their bank.
  • He felt the company had victimized him by firing him without a valid reason.
  • Bullies often victimize those who seem weaker or different.

Advanced Usage

• "to be victimized by": to suffer harm or injustice from a specific person, system, or situation.
  • Many homeowners were victimized by the fraudulent loan scheme.
• In passive voice: The word is frequently used in the passive form ("be victimized") to emphasize the experience of the person suffering the harm.
  • She was repeatedly victimized by online harassment.

Variants and Related Words

• Victimization (noun): The act or process of victimizing someone; the state of being victimized.
  • The report studied the victimization of minority groups.
• Victimizer (noun): A person who victimizes others.
  • The police are searching for the victimizer behind the phishing emails.

Synonyms

• Swindle: To cheat someone out of money or property.
• Defraud: To illegally obtain money from someone by deception.
• Exploit: To use someone unfairly for one's own advantage.
• Persecute: To subject someone to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of their race, religion, or political beliefs.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "Victimize" itself does not commonly form phrasal verbs. Its meaning is typically expressed through the simple verb or the construction "victimize [someone].")

Related Idioms

• To fall victim to: To be harmed or affected by something bad. (This idiom uses the noun "victim," not the verb "victimize," but is closely related in meaning.)
  • He fell victim to a sophisticated investment fraud.

Học thuật

Verb

1. deprive of by deceit
   • He swindled me out of my inheritance
   • She defrauded the customers who trusted her
   • the cashier gypped me when he gave me too little change
2. punish unjustly
3. make a victim of
   • I was victimized by this con-man

Từ đồng nghĩa

• victimise