depersonalize
depersonalize verb: to remove a sense of personal identity or individual character from something; to anonymize.
Verb
depersonalize (third-person singular simple present depersonalizes, present participle depersonalizing, simple past and past participle depersonalized)
- To remove a sense of personal identity or individual character from something; to anonymize.
- These "Eternal Ones of the Dream" are not to be confused with the personally modified symbolic figures that appear in nightmare and madness to the still tormented individual. Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream; both myth and dream are symbolic in the same general way of...1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 19
- A new language is infecting the culture of American medicine. It is the language of the marketplace, of the tradesman, and of the cost accountant. It is a language that depersonalizes both patients and physicians and describes medical care as just another commodity.1982 April 8, Rashi Fein, “What Is Wrong with the Language of Medicine?”, in New England Journal of Medicine, volume 306, number 14, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 863–864
- To present (something) as an impersonal object.
- Quantification (or statisticalization) is a set of scientific practices that transforms text statements into numerical ones, depersonalizing and decontextualizing them[…]2008, Susan Greenhalgh, Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China, page 109
- To suffer an episode of depersonalization.
- He's depersonalizing right now, so he's considering checking himself into the hospital.
Examples of depersonalize in a sentence
- Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream; both myth and dream are symbolic in the same general way of the dynamics of the psyche.1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 19:
- The wearing of Roman collar can potentially depersonalize someone.2011, Jordan Nyenyembe, African Catholic Priests: Confronting an Identity Problem, page 74:
Forms of depersonalize
| third-person singular present | depersonalizes |
|---|---|
| present participle | depersonalizing |
| past participle | depersonalized |
| past | depersonalized |
| alternative form | depersonalise |
Origin of depersonalize
From de- + personalize.
Words formed from depersonalize
Questions about depersonalize
- What does depersonalize mean?
- Depersonalize means to remove a sense of personal identity or individual character from something; to anonymize.
- How do you use depersonalize in a sentence?
- Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream; both myth and dream are symbolic in the same general way of the dynamics of the psyche.
- What part of speech is depersonalize?
- Depersonalize is a verb.
- What is the past tense of depersonalize?
- The past tense of depersonalize is depersonalized.
Words near depersonalize in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: depersonalize (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:
Cite this entry: “depersonalize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/depersonalize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
