BESTIALIZE Synonyms: 33 Similar and Opposite Words

bestialize

verb

Definition of bestialize

as in to humiliate

to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being men who had been bestialized by war

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bestialize

Verb

One of its proof points was supposed to be Maine, where Graham Platner humiliated the party establishment, then himself.

— David Weigel, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026
This caution is surprising in a writer who has elsewhere been fearless about identity and America, attentive to the country’s institutional capacity to humiliate, compromise, and implicate the people who claim it.

— Zain Khalid, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of humiliate

Verb

What researchers uncovered through lab testing and surveillance footage, prosecutors said, was a plot by his fellow graduate student to intentionally poison him.

— Eduardo Cuevas, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
May says national polarization is poisoning the atmosphere locally.

— Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of poison

Verb

Palestinians have been systematically dehumanized, along with the broader Arab and Muslim world, to serve the foreign policy objectives of governments without questioning the moral and legal implications.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
The legal system dehumanizes her, the support group confuses her, and one of her friends painfully disappoints her.

— Carey Purcell, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of dehumanize

Verb

But critics have warned the gloves will give ICE another weapon to intimidate and brutalize people even as the agency is under fire for excessive force that has left a trail of deaths and injuries across the nation.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
Allegations of abuse, inmates being brutalized by jailers, and dire conditions have plagued the facility for years, leading some county leaders, former sheriffs and civil rights advocates to call for the jail to be closed.

— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of brutalize

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bestiality

bestialize

bestialized

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Bestialize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bestialize. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of bestialize

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compunction

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes