Overview of verb civilize

The verb civilize has 2 senses

• educate, school, train, cultivate, civilize, civilise -- (teach or refine to be discriminative in taste or judgment; "Cultivate your musical taste"; "Train your tastebuds"; "She is well schooled in poetry")


• civilize, civilise -- (raise from a barbaric to a civilized state; "The wild child found wandering in the forest was gradually civilized")

Overview of adj civilized

The adj civilized has 2 senses

• civilized, civilised -- (having a high state of culture and development both social and technological; "terrorist acts that shocked the civilized world")


• civilized, civilised, cultivated, cultured, genteel, polite -- (marked by refinement in taste and manners; "cultivated speech"; "cultured Bostonians"; "cultured tastes"; "a genteel old lady"; "polite society")