victimize

/ˌvɪktəˈmaɪz/

/ˈvɪktəmaɪz/

Other forms: victimized; victimizing; victimizes

To victimize is to make someone into a victim by harming or taking advantage of them in some way. A school bully might be known to victimize other kids on the playground.

A victim is someone who has had something bad done to them, like the victim of a murder or a burglary. To victimize is to put someone in that position. A serial killer victimizes the people they kill. A swindler victimizes the people they cheat out of money. Abusive parents victimize their children. A football team that cheats victimizes the other team. When you hear about victimizing, you know someone has been hurt.

Definitions of victimize

1. verb

   make a victim of
   “I was victimized by this con-man”

   synonyms: victimise

   types:

   cheat, chisel, rip off

   deprive somebody of something by deceit

   cozen, deceive, delude, lead on

   be false to; be dishonest with

   gazump

   raise the price of something after agreeing on a lower price

   cozen

   cheat or trick

   fleece, gazump, hook, overcharge, pluck, plume, rob, soak, surcharge

   rip off; ask an unreasonable price

   betray, sell

   deliver to an enemy by treachery

   bunco, con, defraud, diddle, gip, goldbrick, hornswoggle, mulct, nobble, rook, scam, short-change, shortchange, swindle

   (offensive) deprive of by deceit

   bilk

   cheat somebody out of what is due, especially money

   beat, bunk

   avoid paying

   whipsaw

   victimize, especially in gambling or negotiations

   welch, welsh

   cheat by avoiding payment of a gambling debt

   cheat, chisel

   engage in deceitful behavior; practice trickery or fraud

   shill

   act as a shill

   flim-flam, fob, fox, play a joke on, play a trick on, play tricks, pull a fast one on, trick

   deceive somebody

   befool, fool, gull

   make a fool or dupe of

   betray, cheat, cheat on, cuckold, wander

   be sexually unfaithful to one's partner in marriage

   hoax, play a joke on, pull someone's leg

   subject to a playful hoax or joke

   ensnare, entrap, frame, set up

   take or catch as if in a snare or trap

   beguile, hoodwink, juggle

   influence by slyness

   humbug

   trick or deceive

   type of:

   wrong

   treat unjustly; do wrong to
2. verb

   punish unjustly
   synonyms: victimise

   type of:

   penalise, penalize, punish, sanction

   impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on
3. verb

   (offensive) deprive of by deceit
   synonyms: bunco, con, defraud, diddle, gip, goldbrick, hornswoggle, mulct, nobble, rook, scam, short-change, shortchange, swindle

   types:

   short, short-change, shortchange

   cheat out of by giving back less money than is due to someone who has overpaid

   type of:

   cheat, chisel, rip off

   deprive somebody of something by deceit