demonize
UK/ˈdiːmənaɪz/
demonize verb: to turn into a demon.
Verb
demonize (third-person singular simple present demonizes, present participle demonizing, simple past and past participle demonized)
- To turn into a demon.
- To describe or represent as evil or diabolic, usually falsely.
- President Trump has seized on the response in the streets to police brutality against Black men and women to bolster his re-election campaign, employing provocative and sometimes incendiary language and images to incite his followers, demonize his opponents or both.2020 September 1, Peter Baker, “Trump has a long history of language that incites and demonizes.”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Sep 2020
- He calls for a “massive, urgent recruitment effort,” which is a fine idea, but one that’s likely to be futile unless we stop demonizing teachers and start paying them fairly.2022 October 3, Michelle Goldberg, “Boys and Men Are in Crisis Because Society Is”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2023
- Synonyms:
- monster, monsterize, vilify, villainize, assassinate, asperse, backbite, badmouth, befoul, belibel
demonize meaning in Hindi, Indonesian and Vietnamese
demonize in Hindi
- describe or represent as evil
- असुरीकरण asurikaran
demonize in Indonesian
- describe or represent as evil
- ibliskan
demonize in Vietnamese
- turn into a demon
- biến thành quỷ
Examples of demonize in a sentence
- It brags “we can replace them”—and gaslights and demonizes those who notice and object to being replaced.2023 July 21, Michael Anton, “The Pessimistic Case for the Future”, in Compact, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2024:
- Many people disagree with several things society has normalized, some of which are even demonized.2024 May 11, Isabella Sylvester, “18 Things Society Has Demonized That Should Be Considered Normal”, in MSN, archived from the original on...
Synonyms of demonize
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of demonize
| third-person singular present | demonizes |
|---|---|
| present participle | demonizing |
| past participle | demonized |
| past | demonized |
| alternative UK | demonise |
| alternative form (archaic) | daemonise |
| alternative form (archaic) | daemonize |
| alternative form (archaic) | dæmonize |
Origin of demonize
From Medieval Latin daemonizō, from daemon + -izō. Compare Ancient Greek δαιμονίζομαι (daimonízomai, “to be possessed by a demon”), from δαίμων (daímōn, “demon”). By surface analysis, demon + -ize.
Words formed from demonize
Questions about demonize
- What does demonize mean?
- Demonize means to turn into a demon.
- What is demonize in Hindi?
- Demonize in Hindi is असुरीकरण (asurikaran). See Demonize meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use demonize in a sentence?
- It brags “we can replace them”—and gaslights and demonizes those who notice and object to being replaced.
- What part of speech is demonize?
- Demonize is a verb.
- How do you pronounce demonize?
- Demonize is pronounced /ˈdiːmənaɪz/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of demonize?
- The past tense of demonize is demonized.
Words near demonize in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: demonize (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-demonize.ogg.
Cite this entry: “demonize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/demonize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.