Objectification is the act, or the result, of treating a person — or, in more careful talk, an idea — as if they were a physical object: a thing you can look at, use, own, or pass around, rather than someone with their own inner life. The sense you will meet most is about people, especially women, being treated as bodies for others to enjoy; that is sexual objectification, and it is a serious, slightly formal word from news, essays, and gender studies, not from casual chat. You can also talk about the objectification of an idea, meaning we speak of a thought as if it were a hard thing we could point to. Though actually, philosophers have used the word in other technical ways, but learners almost always meet the ‘treating a person as a thing’ sense. Do not hear it as ‘being objective’ (sticking to facts) or as ‘making an objection’ (saying you are against something); those neighbours on the page lead students astray.