Meaning & use
civilize
Last updated
To bring a person, place, or society out of a primitive or disorderly state and into one with organized customs and culture.
See it in a sentence
European colonizers claimed they were sent to civilize the territories they conquered.
Parents joke that raising toddlers is an endless attempt to civilize small savages.
A note on using this word
The word has a fraught history, since it was often used to justify colonialism and the destruction of indigenous cultures under the guise of "civilizing" them.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
barbarize
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