Uncivilizing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Causing people or societies to lose manners, culture, or social refinement
2. Leading to a decline in polite behavior and cultured customs in individuals or groups
3. Inducing a state of reduced social grace and the breakdown of civilized standards

Etymology: Civilize is the older word, and "uncivilize" is simply civilize with the reversing prefix "un-" attached to it. The verb builds on the notion of "civil" as in civic life and polite society, and "uncivilizing" is its present-participle form, used for the act of stripping away that refinement. The prefix does the work here: "un-" added to a verb turns it into the undoing of that action, so to uncivilize is to pull people back from the manners and habits that a civilized society expects. The meaning therefore sits close to the ordinary sense of "civilize" but runs in reverse, and the word describes conduct or circumstances that make people rougher, ruder or less restrained.

Synonyms: savage, barbarous, brutalizing, dehumanizing, demoralizing

Antonyms: civilizing, refining, elevating, cultivating, improving