What does victimise mean?
Victimise is a British-spelling verb meaning to make someone a victim of cruel, harmful, or unfair treatment. It describes situations in which a person is abused, persecuted, exploited, harassed, or otherwise treated as the target of another person's harmful conduct. The word is especially clear in phrases such as “be victimised by,” which identify both the affected person and the source of the mistreatment, although it can also be used transitively: “The manager victimised the whistleblower.” Victimise is typically formal and carries a strongly condemnatory tone rather than neutrally describing an unfortunate event. It is not merely synonymous with harm, since it implies an unfair distribution of power or responsibility. British and other Commonwealth writing commonly uses victimise, while the spelling victimize is standard in American English. The word is useful when the emphasis is on the wrongdoing suffered by the person treated as a victim.
verbTo make someone a victim of cruel, harmful, or unfair treatment, especially through abuse, persecution, or harassment.
- To subject someone to cruel, harmful, or unfair treatment and thereby make them a victim.
"The employees were unfairly victimised by a campaign of intimidation."
"Passengers who complained were unfairly victimised by the airline."
"The inquiry concluded that the employees had been victimised by a sustained campaign of harassment."
From Latin victima, meaning a sacrificial victim, victimise carries the darker sense of turning someone into a target.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does victimise come from?
Victimise was formed in English in the early 17th century by adding the suffix -ise to the older word victim. Victim derives through Old French from Latin victima, meaning a sacrifice or sacrificial victim, with its earliest senses referring to a person or animal killed in a religious rite. The verb therefore develops the figurative idea of making someone a target of cruel or unfair treatment. The same Latin source also underlies English words such as victimhood and victimless.
Related word forms
How victimise is actually used
The word is formal and strongly condemnatory, implying that the affected person is being treated unfairly or exploited. British and other Commonwealth writing commonly uses the spelling victimise, while American English normally uses victimize.
Easily confused with victimise
Victimise is the conventional British spelling, while victimize is the standard spelling in American English; both have the same meaning.
A victim is a person who suffers harm or mistreatment, whereas victimise is the verb describing the act of making someone such a target.