bestialize · verb — to make like a beast. It carries an Arena rating of 1326, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, bestialize ranks #1,123 of 17,176 for Most Incisive Words, #1,794 of 17,131 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,443 of 17,171 for Scariest Words, #3,204 of 17,187 for Most Malleable Words.
Why “bestialize” is a great word
To reduce a person or their behavior to a savage, animal-like state. From bestial (from Old French, ultimately from Latin bestia, "beast") + the English verbal suffix -ize. Unlike "brutalize," which emphasizes the infliction of cruelty, or "dehumanize," which denotes the stripping away of dignity, to bestialize is to actively impose a feral nature—to see not an absence of humanity, but the presence of something prowling and snarling in its place. It is the deliberate gleam in a mob's eye, the sudden predatory hunch of a man who smells blood, and the rough, unthinking warmth of a body driven by hunger and fear. It is the quiet horror of recognizing the beast within, and then choosing to feed it.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From bestial + -ize.
verb
- To make like a beast.
- To bring or reduce to the state or condition of a beast.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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