brutalize

verb

ˈbrü-tᵊl-ˌīz How to pronounce brutalize (audio)
Definition of brutalizenext
1
as in to humiliate
to make (someone) feel or behave more like an animal than a human being even three years in a prison camp did not brutalize him

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to abuse
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon Red Cross workers reported that prisoners had been brutalized

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of brutalize In 2022, two corrections officers at the Laurens County Detention Center in South Carolina were arrested and charged with brutalizing an inmate and using a GLOVE device to repeatedly stun them, CNN noted. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 12 Aug. 2026 Each competitor was giving it their all with brutalizing chops, tough suplexes and going above and beyond to try to win that championship. — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 15 July 2026 Drozhak dreams that a future robot army would put an end to the ability of autocratic regimes worldwide to brutalize their neighbors. — Tereza Pultarova, IEEE Spectrum, 10 July 2026 The same curriculum includes Prophet Muhammed’s history of brutalizing Christians and Jewish people — a framing that Muslim families and interfaith advocates found issue with in public comment. — Rachel Royster. Produced With Ai Assistance, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for brutalize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brutalize
  1. humiliate
  2. abuse
  3. dehumanize
  4. bully
  5. poison
  6. mistreat
  7. oppress
  8. torture
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
  • The charges come with additional special allegations, around the victim’s vulnerability and that Tapia abused a trustworthy position.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Early American corporate charters, after all, were granted for limited public purposes and could be revoked when abused.
    — Christopher Marquis, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of abuse
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
  • James McAvoy recalls his first day on the set of Band of Brothers and says a co-star bullied him.
    — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Musk’s forthright, crusty dad Errol sounds almost proud that something was bullied out of his son, but the movie avoids filling out that traumatic childhood.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of bully
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
  • Of course, parents should intervene when a coach is abusive or a child is genuinely being mistreated.
    — Jonathan Alpert OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Neighbors said the man began kicking and mistreating the dog before eventually luring the husky away from the yard with food.
    — Hunter Sowards, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of mistreat
Verb
  • At the sectarian level, Baptists ridiculed Quakers, Presbyterians oppressed Anabaptists.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Look what women can do when they’re not abused, oppressed, and angry about being abused and oppressed!
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of oppress
Verb
  • Hundreds of thousands of women were tried, tortured, and executed for witchcraft in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2026
  • According to Bilal and his brother Judy, neither Ahmed nor anyone else in his family had ever been arrested or tortured by the regime.
    — Ben Taub, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of torture

Browse Nearby Words

brutality
brutalize
brutalized
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

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

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

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
See More

Popular

See More

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
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All