depersonate

D2E1P3E1R1S1O1N1A1T1E1

verb

To depersonalize; to remove the status of a person.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

verbdepersonate (third-person singular simple present depersonates, present participle depersonating, simple past and past participle depersonated)

present singular third person depersonates · participle present depersonating · participle past depersonated · past depersonated

  1. To depersonalize; to remove the status of a person.

    The fantasy of robotic masses expresses a complex desire, to embody and depersonate at the same time.

    2014, Despina Kakoudaki, Anatomy of a Robot
    2 more examples

    Is there not a tendency to speak of the operation of the Holy Spirit as that of an influence, rather than an agency — to depersonate or impersonate Him?

    1847, The Biblical review, and Congregational magazine

    In "St. Simeon Stylites" (1833), camparably, the monologist's obsession with gaining a sanctified fame leads him to depersonate himself into the very stone pillar on which he sits, the epithet by which he has his identity: he names himself, "I, Simeon of the pillar, by surname / Stylites, among men; I, Simeon, / The watcher on the column till the end" (lines 158-60).

    1993, Herbert F. Tucker, Critical essays on Alfred Lord Tennyson, page 101

Origin

From de- + person + -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

depersonate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depersonate

MLA

“depersonate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depersonate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “depersonate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depersonate.

Source: depersonate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.