Meaning & use
anthropomorphizing
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“anthropomorphizing” is a form of “anthropomorphize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitiveformal
Treating an animal, object or force as if it had human feelings, thoughts or behavior.
Grammar: Can take an object (anthropomorphizing the dog) or stand alone as a general habit: stop anthropomorphizing.
Patterns
- anthropomorphizing something
- anthropomorphizing animals
She was anthropomorphizing her cat when she said it was sulking out of spite.
Writers of fables are often anthropomorphizing animals so that they can teach lessons.
Scientists warn against anthropomorphizing chimpanzees when they interpret their behavior.
verbtransitiveinformal
Describing a machine or program as if it had a mind of its own, with wants and intentions.
Grammar: Used about technology: anthropomorphizing the software.
Patterns
- anthropomorphizing a machine
Users keep anthropomorphizing the chatbot, saying it feels sad.
He laughed at himself for anthropomorphizing the old printer that jammed every Monday.
Common combinations
- anthropomorphizing animals
- Cartoons are famous for anthropomorphizing animals.
- stop anthropomorphizing
- Researchers tell students to stop anthropomorphizing their lab rats.
- tendency toward anthropomorphizing
- Children show a natural tendency toward anthropomorphizing toys.
- anthropomorphizing nature
- Poets have long been anthropomorphizing nature.
- anthropomorphizing robots
- Anthropomorphizing robots can make people trust them too much.
- guilty of anthropomorphizing
- Most pet owners are guilty of anthropomorphizing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- personifying
- Personifying is mostly a literary device in which an idea is described as a person, whereas anthropomorphizing is also used for real beliefs about animals and machines.
- humanizing
- Humanizing can mean making something kinder or more relatable, which is not the same as giving human traits to a non-human.
- projecting
- Projecting means attributing your own feelings to others and is wider than treating non-humans as human.
Opposites
Word family
- anthropomorphize verb
- the base form
- anthropomorphism noun
- the habit of giving human traits to non-human things
- anthropomorphic adjective
- having human form or qualities
- anthropology noun
- the study of humans and their cultures
Commonly confused: anthropomorphizing or personification?
anthropomorphizing vs personification
Personification is the literary technique itself. Anthropomorphizing is the act of seeing or portraying non-humans as human.
Practice
Which situation is an example of anthropomorphizing?
Choose one answer.
Saying a teddy bear feels sad gives a human emotion to an object. The other options describe objective observation or care.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anthropomorphizing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.