verb
- to remove personal or individual characteristics from something; to make impersonal or detached
- in psychology, to cause someone to feel detached from their own identity or surroundings; to induce depersonalization
Usage: British spelling (American: depersonalizes); third person singular present tense
Usage: clinical/psychological term
Examples
- The large corporation depersonalises customer service by replacing human agents with automated systems.
- Modern technology sometimes depersonalises human interaction and connection.
- The bureaucratic process depersonalises individuals by reducing them to identification numbers.
- Trauma can depersonalise victims, making them feel disconnected from reality.
- Mass production depersonalises products by removing handcrafted uniqueness.
- The clinical environment depersonalises patients, treating them as cases rather than people.