civilize

By the fifth century BCE, some of the larger villages of Macedon grew big enough to be considered cities, and elite Macedonians made efforts to civilize their country in the style of the southern Greeks.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

Most of “Darlin’ ” follows the title character, as she first resists the church’s plan to civilize her, then gradually begins to come around to the idea that she needs to be “saved.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2019

You can civilize pungent shoes, too, with products that employ apple cider vinegar, cedar or charcoal to absorb rather than mask the acrid smell.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2018

We will see if we can civilize these corporate man-babies.

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2017

Somewhere above, the rockets burned down to civilize a beautifully dead planet.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury

We sense early on, from Mortensen’s delicate handling of their courtship, that this isn’t some musty rehash of the trope where she civilizes him and he domesticates her.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2024

But there she is, one of the immortal characters of literature, and how can you not fall in love with somebody who civilizes savage people by telling them stories?

From New York Times ● Sep. 4, 2015

Far from revealing our barbarism, fighting civilizes us, Gottschall writes.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2015

It opened up a discussion about anonymity, pseudonymity and whether using real names civilizes the Internet.

From Forbes ● Oct. 15, 2012

It perhaps is rather a waste of time arranging all these vases and baskets of flowers every day, but they are very nice to look at, and I think it civilizes one.”

From Six to Sixteen A Story for Girls by Ewing, Juliana Horatia Gatty

“From ancient Persia of thousands of years ago to the civilized Iran of today, the spirit of Iran remains alive and steadfast,” the note read.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said External link “taxes are what we pay for civilized society,” suggesting we get what we pay for.

From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026

“Ottoman elites internalized and even embraced European ideas about their own Empire. These elites aspired to become Westernized, which they saw as civilized and modern.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

“She was such a civilized, cultural person,” Stasevska says of her grandmother, adding that she taught her grandkids everything she knew about her home country.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026

Canada, from what I heard so far, ain’t nowhere near that civilized.

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Heaney was born with a subject he often resisted, and “Digging” turns away from violence to the civilizing necessity of work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

Smith seems to want to say something about the civilizing influence of women and their survival in a world of unruly and domineering men.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2025

Colonialism, once equated by the West with civilizing progress, became synonymous with iniquity.

From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2023

“They believed that their society was making progress, that it was gaining greater control over nature, that they were becoming more civilized and were civilizing the environment around them,” Golinski said.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 26, 2023

Attempts at civilizing her rolled right off her.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor