bru ‧ tal ‧ ize BrE AmE ( also brutalise British English ) /ˈbruːt ə l-aɪz/ verb [transitive usually passive]
1 . to affect someone so badly that they lose their normal human feelings:
He was brutalized by his experiences in jail.
2 . to treat someone in a cruel or violent way:
Demonstrators claimed they had been brutalized by police officers.
—brutalization /ˌbruːtl-aɪˈzeɪʃ ə n $ -tl-ə-/ noun [uncountable]