brutalizing
Inflicting cruel harm
Brutalizing is subjecting someone to harsh, cruel, or dehumanizing treatment.
Police may brutalize suspects; war brutalizes soldiers and civilians alike.
The word implies systematic cruelty that degrades the victim—and often the perpetrator: Years of combat had brutalized him.
In British English, spelled brutalising.
Fierce and untamed
- viciousCruelly aggressive in nature
- barbaricSavagely cruel, uncivilized
- mercilessShowing no clemency
- ruthlessLacking any compassion
inhumane · ferocious · sadistic · pitiless · bloodthirsty · bestial · cold-blooded · harsh
Lowering in worth
- objectifyingTreating people as things
- violatingInfringing upon established rules
- devaluingReducing something's worth
- desensitizingReducing responsiveness to stimulus
depersonalizing · stripping · diminishing · demeaning · oppressing · subjugating · marginalizing · traumatizing
savage
Fierce and untamed
ruthless · inhumane · ferocious · sadistic · pitiless · bloodthirsty · bestial · cold-blooded · harsh · violent
degrading
Lowering in worth
- objectifyingTreating people as things
- violatingInfringing upon established rules
- devaluingReducing something's worth
desensitizing · depersonalizing · stripping · diminishing · demeaning · oppressing · subjugating · marginalizing · traumatizing · victimizing
brutalizingnurturing
Supportive care-giving
cherishing · caring for · protecting · coddling · pampering
brutalizinghumanizing
Making more relatable
dignifying · ennobling · civilizing · uplifting · edifying
brutalizingimproving
Becoming more capable
healing · rehabilitating · restoring · cultivating · developing
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