dehumanize
/diːˈhjuːmənaɪz/
"dehumanize" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dehumanize” is uncommon English (frequency #79,440 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #79,440
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To take away humanity; to remove or deny human qualities, characteristics, or attributes; to impersonalize.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dehumanize |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /diːˈhjuːmənaɪz/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #79,440 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dehumanize” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
dehumanize is uncommon English at frequency #79,440 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /diːˈhjuːmənaɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To take away humanity; to remove or deny human qualities, characteristics, or attributes; to impersonalize.".
dehumanize doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From de- + humanize. The correct English form is dehumanize, spelled D-E-H-U-M-A-N-I-Z-E.
Definition
- 1To take away humanity; to remove or deny human qualities, characteristics, or attributes; to impersonalize.
Etymology
From de- + humanize.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “dehumanize”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-H-U-M-A-N-I-Z-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /diːˈhjuːmənaɪz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.