What does diabolizing mean?
Diabolizing is the act of portraying someone or something as thoroughly evil or devil-like, typically with an implication of exaggeration or injustice. It is the present participle and gerund of the verb 'to diabolize,' which shares its meaning with the more common 'demonize.' When writers accuse media outlets, politicians, or historians of diabolizing a group, they are charging them with turning opponents into monsters — stripping away nuance and casting them as embodiments of wickedness. The word derives ultimately from the Greek 'diabolos,' meaning 'slanderer,' which Latin adopted as 'diabolus' and English rendered as 'devil.' Because of that lineage, diabolizing has a literary and rhetorical flavor: it appears most often in criticism, political commentary, and scholarly discussions of propaganda, polemic, and moral panic. It is formal in tone and rarer than its synonyms, lending a deliberate, weighty emphasis wherever it is used.
Present participle of 'diabolize': portraying or representing someone or something as evil, wicked, or satanic.
"The pamphlet spent pages diabolizing its political rivals."
Often used with an implication that the portrayal is unfair or exaggerated.
The act or practice of depicting someone or something as devilish or evil.
"Such diabolizing of immigrants was a staple of the era's rhetoric."
As a gerund, frequently preceded by an article or possessive, as in 'the diabolizing of the enemy.'
When you diabolize someone, you're literally casting them in the role of the devil — a charge so extreme it traces back to the Greek word for 'slanderer.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of diabolizing
Diabolizing stems from the verb 'diabolize,' formed from the adjective 'diabolic,' which traces through Late Latin 'diabolicus' to Greek 'diabolikos,' from 'diabolos' meaning 'slanderer' or 'accuser' — literally 'one who throws across' (from 'dia-' across and 'ballein' to throw). The Greek term was used in the Septuagint and New Testament to translate Hebrew 'satan,' and it became the source of both 'devil' in English and 'diablo' in Romance languages. The verb took on its figurative sense of portraying someone as evil, paralleling 'demonize.'
Related word forms
How diabolizing is actually used
Formal to literary register; far less common than its near-synonym 'demonizing' but interchangeable in most contexts. Carries a strong connotation of unjust or propagandistic vilification. The spelling 'diabolising' appears in British English.
Easily confused with diabolizing
Demonizing means portraying something as evil in general; diabolizing carries the same sense but derives from 'devil' rather than 'demon', making it a rarer synonym with identical meaning.