civilized
adjective
civ·i·lized
ˈsi-və-ˌlīzd 
: characteristic of a state of civilization
civilized society
especially
: characterized by taste, refinement, or restraint
Synonyms
Examples of civilized in a Sentence
A civilized society must respond to crime with fairness and justice.
Stop yelling. We have to be more civilized about this.
Try to act like a civilized human being!
a civilized way to spend the evening
Recent Examples on the Web
What does ring true until the final frame of the show and into our present-day lives is that civilization and the civilized rarely occupy the same space.
—
Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 9 Jan. 2025
Douyin Warnings From Within China China’s drive to assimilate the Tibetans echoes history elsewhere in the world where Indigenous people were seen by their foreign occupiers as savages who needed to be civilized with boarding schools, causing trauma and abuses.
—Chris Buckley, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
In both, the vampire then makes a voyage to the more civilized west, terrorizing the citizens there—Whitby, in England and Wisborg in Germany—while attempting to seduce a beautiful woman.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2024
Fall and spring are more civilized seasons, as the temps rarely exceed the 80s.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 27 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for civilized 
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Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 9 Jan. 2025
Douyin Warnings From Within China China’s drive to assimilate the Tibetans echoes history elsewhere in the world where Indigenous people were seen by their foreign occupiers as savages who needed to be civilized with boarding schools, causing trauma and abuses.
—Chris Buckley, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
In both, the vampire then makes a voyage to the more civilized west, terrorizing the citizens there—Whitby, in England and Wisborg in Germany—while attempting to seduce a beautiful woman.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2024
Fall and spring are more civilized seasons, as the temps rarely exceed the 80s.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 27 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for civilized
Dictionary Entries Near civilized
Cite this Entry
“Civilized.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/civilized. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.
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