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Definition of "brutalize" [bru•tal•ize]

  • To make cruel, harsh, or unfeeling. (verb-transitive)
  • To treat cruelly or harshly. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "brutalize" in a sentence
  • "At least in the 18th century they knew what 'brutalize' meant. porkbelly"
  • "(It's annoying in this context that the normally meticulous Nicolson repeatedly misuses the term "brutalize," only once getting it right.)"
  • "But in its closing laps, Angels & Demons makes up the distance with a series of twists that brutalize science and faith, character and continuity, and anything approximating narrative coherence."