Definition of "dehumanize" [de•hu•man•ize]

• To deprive of human qualities such as individuality, compassion, or civility: slaves who had been dehumanized by their abysmal condition. (verb-transitive)
• To render mechanical and routine. (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.

• "Does the writer really mean to suggest — nay, insist — that universities, regardless of their affiliation, "dehumanize" their employees by expecting a "certain" level of conduct?"
• "Enforced shaving of a prisoner's head has long been a systematic tool to 'dehumanize' and 'depersonalize' an individual."
• ""You kind of dehumanize the adult, bringing him down to the animal's level.""