objectify

English

Etymology

object +‎ -ify

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əbˈd͡ʒɛktɪˌfaɪ/

Verb

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.
   • 1906 May–October, Jack London, White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC:

     It was the unknown, objectified at last, in concrete flesh and blood, bending over him and reaching down to seize hold of him.

2. (transitive) To treat (something) as objectively real.
   • 1921, Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow‎, London: Chatto & Windus:

     The mystic objectifies a rich feeling in the pit of the stomach into a cosmology.

4. (transitive) To treat (someone) as a mere (often sexual) object, denying their dignity.
   • 1994 "Book review: Fire With Fire", backlash.com

     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.

Synonyms

• objectivize, reify, thingify

Derived terms

• objectification