What does anathematizing mean?
"Anathematizing" is the present participle of the verb "anathematize," meaning to pronounce a formal curse against someone or to condemn them vehemently as accursed. Its most literal sense belongs to religious history: in medieval Christianity, to anathematize was to formally exclude a person from the Church, a punishment regarded as spiritual damnation. By extension, the word came to describe any fierce, public denunciation of a person, doctrine, or idea. Today it survives mainly in formal, literary, or historical writing, where it lends gravity and drama to the act of condemnation — one might describe councils anathematizing heretics or critics anathematizing a controversial work. The word derives ultimately from the Greek "anathema" ("a thing set up" or "devoted," later "accursed"), via Church Latin. It is a useful term when ordinary words like "criticize" or "disapprove" are too mild, conveying not mere objection but total, ritualized rejection.
verb (present participle and gerund)The act of denouncing someone or something vehemently, especially formally cursing or condemning a person as abhorrent, often in a religious context.
- To formally pronounce a curse or sentence of excommunication upon someone, especially in a religious or ecclesiastical setting.
- To denounce or condemn someone or something vehemently in general (non-religious) usage.
"The medieval council spent days anathematizing the theologians whose doctrines it deemed heretical."
"The Fourth Lateran Council went so far as to anathematize those who spread the condemned teachings."
"Critics were quick to begin anathematizing the film long before anyone had actually seen it."
To be anathematized was once no mere insult — it was a formal curse that could cost you your community, your property, and, believers believed, your eternal soul.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of anathematizing
The word traces back through Late Latin "anathematizare" to the Greek verb "anathematizein" ("to devote to evil, curse"), itself built on "anathema" — originally "something set up," which in ecclesiastical Greek came to mean a thing devoted to destruction or accursed. English adopted "anathematize" in the early modern period, around the late 16th century, alongside its noun "anathema." Related forms sharing this Greek lineage include "hypothesis" and "synthesis," both built on the root verb "tithenai" ("to place").
Related word forms
How anathematizing is actually used
Formal and literary in register; rare in everyday speech. The ecclesiastical sense carries strong historical weight from medieval church practice, where anathema was the gravest form of censure. In secular use it often sounds hyperbolic or deliberately dramatic.
Easily confused with anathematizing
"Anathema" is the noun meaning a formal curse or something detested, while "anathematizing" is the verb form describing the ongoing act of issuing such condemnation.