civilize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to bring out of savagery or barbarism into a state characteristic of civilization
-
to refine, educate, or enlighten
Other Word Forms
- civilizable adjective
- civilizatory adjective
- civilizer noun
- decivilize verb (used with object)
- noncivilizable adjective
- overcivilize verb
- uncivilizable adjective
- uncivilize verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of civilize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“She was such a civilized, cultural person,” Stasevska says of her grandmother, adding that she taught her grandkids everything she knew about her home country.
From Los Angeles Times
They settled on House No. 2, which also appeared civilized but in a less unsavory location.
It’s the civilized thing to do, and the U.S. is a civilized nation.
As societies emerged, we began to develop egos, those brittle parts of our selves taxed with negotiating between our primal urges and the constraints of a civilized order.
Then Miss Philips went to school and told Mr. Crabtree that she had a plan to civilize the Herdmans or, at least, one of them.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
