Word.ws English Dictionary

brutalize

/ˈbɹuːtəlaɪz/US/ˈbɹutəlaɪz/

brutalize is the alternative spelling of brutalise.

Meaning of brutalise

Verb

brutalise (third-person singular simple present brutalises, present participle brutalising, simple past and past participle brutalised)

  1. (transitive) To inflict brutal violence on.
  2. (transitive) To make brutal, cruel or harsh.
  3. (dated, intransitive) To live or behave like a brute.

Forms of brutalize

third-person singular presentbrutalizes
present participlebrutalizing
past participlebrutalized
pastbrutalized
alternative formbrutalise

Origin of brutalize

From brutal + -ize.

Words formed from brutalize

Questions about brutalize

What is brutalize the alternative spelling of?
Brutalize is the alternative spelling of brutalise.
How do you pronounce brutalize?
Brutalize is pronounced /ˈbɹuːtəlaɪz/ (UK).

Words near brutalize in the dictionary

  1. brutalitarians
  2. brutalities
  3. brutality
  4. brutalization
  5. brutalizations
  6. brutalize
  7. brutalized
  8. brutalizer
  9. brutalizers
  10. brutalizes
  11. brutalizing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: brutalize (page history and authors); brutalise (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-brutalise.wav.

Cite this entry: “brutalize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brutalize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.