bestialize
Reduce to savagery
To bestialize is to reduce someone or something to the level of a beast—stripping away humanity, dignity, or civilization.
The word appears in contexts of degradation and dehumanization: War bestializes both victor and vanquished.
It can also mean to represent someone as beast-like, attributing animal qualities to justify mistreatment.
Fierce and untamed
- barbaricSavagely cruel, uncivilized
- brutalSavagely harsh or severe
- viciousCruelly aggressive in nature
- cruelWillfully causing suffering
inhuman · merciless · ruthless · bloodthirsty · barbarize · dehumanize · animalize · coarsen
Lower in standing
- depraveCorrupt morally
- corruptDishonest, open to bribes
- defileTo violate sanctity
- pervertCorrupt or distort
demoralize · vulgarize · abase · sully · tarnish · vitiate · pollute · profane
Wild after domestication
- primalFirst in origin
- savageFierce and untamed
- wildNot domesticated or controlled
- untamedNot domesticated
instinctual · predatory · carnal · brute · creaturely · nonhuman · atavistic · animalize
Moral worthlessness
- vilenessDespicable quality
- sordidnessMoral or physical foulness
- turpitudeInherent wickedness or vileness
- degeneracyMoral or physical decline
decadence · wickedness · immorality · iniquity · sinfulness · corruption · vice · perversion
savage
Fierce and untamed
- barbaricSavagely cruel, uncivilized
- brutalSavagely harsh or severe
- viciousCruelly aggressive in nature
cruel · inhuman · merciless · ruthless · bloodthirsty · barbarize · dehumanize · animalize · coarsen · harden
degrade
Lower in standing
pervert · demoralize · vulgarize · abase · sully · tarnish · vitiate · pollute · profane · lower
feral
Wild after domestication
untamed · instinctual · predatory · carnal · brute · creaturely · nonhuman · atavistic · animalize · wolflike
baseness
Moral worthlessness
- vilenessDespicable quality
- sordidnessMoral or physical foulness
- turpitudeInherent wickedness or vileness
degeneracy · decadence · wickedness · immorality · iniquity · sinfulness · corruption · vice · perversion · lewdness