anathemize means to declare to be anathema; to curse and reject. It carries an Arena rating of 1554, earned across 44 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, anathemize ranks #1,822 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #2,527 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #3,416 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,524 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
Why “anathemize” is a great word
ANATHEMIZE — [Verb] To pronounce someone or something anathema; to curse and formally excommunicate or reject with solemn, ecclesiastical authority. From anathema (from the Greek anathema, meaning "a thing devoted" or "a curse") + the verbal suffix -ize. The form anathemize is attested from the late 16th century (1585) as a less common variant of anathematize. Unlike "damn" (a broad, often personal imprecation) or "criticize" (a secular judgment), to anathemize is to enact a public rite of spiritual exile, a casting out from the body of the faithful. It is the slow, cold cadence of a bishop's decree in a silent cathedral; the deliberate blotting of a name from a parchment roll; the collective turning away of a congregation that was once a family—a word that remembers when a curse could fracture a soul's very citizenship in eternity.
Etymology
From anathema + -ize.
verb
- To declare to be anathema; to curse and reject.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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