dehumanization

/diːˌhjuːmənaɪˈzeɪʃən/

Etymology

From de- + humanization or dehumanize + -ation or de- + human + -ization.

dehumanization means The act or process of dehumanizing. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 79 out of 100.

Why this word is great

DEHUMANIZATION — [Noun] The systematic process of depriving individuals or groups of their human qualities, rights, or dignity, often through representational or bureaucratic means. From the English prefix de- ("remove, reverse") + human (from Latin humanus, "of or belonging to man") + the suffix -ization ("process of making or becoming"). Unlike "humanization," which confers dignity, or "anthropomorphism," which imaginatively projects it outward, dehumanization is a ruthless subtraction of an interior life already present. It is the bureaucratic ledger reducing a name to a case number, the propagandist's caricature rendering a culture into a monolithic threat, and the clinical vocabulary that redefines a cry as mere data—a quiet, administrative architecture that makes cruelty possible by first declaring the soul a thing.

noun

The act or process of dehumanizing.“Lowi's concern for the rule of law tends to forget that government is not only by but for men; he substitutes an older [impersonality] for the dehumanizations of the new.”