depersonalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make impersonal.
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to deprive of personality or individuality.
a mechanistic society that is depersonalizing its members.
verb
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to deprive (a person, organization, system, etc) of individual or personal qualities; render impersonal
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to cause (someone) to lose his sense of personal identity
Etymology
Origin of depersonalize
First recorded in 1865–70; de- + personalize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The French revolutionaries feared industrialization would depersonalize society by marginalizing skilled artisans.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
“It’s easy to depersonalize it and think these women are bad people,” Cadwallader said.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 4, 2022
All these factors are combining to depersonalize medicine and suck the soul out of many providers.
From Scientific American • Aug. 9, 2021
The trouble with these numbers, though, isn’t only the enormity of them; it is the way that they depersonalize the crisis.
From Salon • Sep. 15, 2019
Another widespread misconception is that numbers depersonalize or somehow diminish individuality.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
