objectify

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

object +‎ -ify

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /əbˈd͡ʒɛktɪˌfaɪ/

Verb[edit]

objectify (third-person singular simple present objectifies, present participle objectifying, simple past and past participle objectified)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To make (something, such as an abstract idea) possible to be perceived by the senses.
  2. (transitive) To treat (something) as objectively real.
    • 1921, Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow[1], London: Chatto & Windus:
      The mystic objectifies a rich feeling in the pit of the stomach into a cosmology.
  3. (transitive) To treat (someone) as a mere (often sexual) object, denying their dignity.
    • 1994 "Book review: Fire With Fire", backlash.com[2]
      She talks about the fact that women objectify men just as much as men objectify women, and she even admits her culpability in doing so by talking about how sometimes she wishes she had a group of "nubile 17 year old soccer players" to keep her happy.
    • 1999: Dawson's Creek (TV, episode 3.04)
      The entire notion of cheerleading is just a sexist attempt to try to objectify the female body.

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