How rude is it to call someone “it”?

Other than in some very specific situations (e.g. when discovering the gender of a baby, you'd say "it's a girl!"), it's very rude. They might understand if you're not a native speaker, but definitely avoid it if you can. You're basically reducing someone to a "thing" instead of a person. If you're not sure of gender you can use they or them instead.

I do not recommend using the pronouns “it” to refer to people unless specifically told to. “They” is typically preferred for situations when gender is not specified.

It's always rude. The one possible exception is I've heard people refer to infants that way in the abstract, but it would be rude to use it to refer to a specific baby. An example: "What do you do for your baby when it's crying?" as a general question not directed at a specific person with a specific baby. They is better to use but you will still see the word it used this way. Other than that it is only used when someone is trying to be rude.

I'd say it's a level beyond being simply rude going into active malice. An it is, linguistically speaking, below human. "It" is for things, plants, animals (and even then with animals people will use "he" or "she" when they like the animal. I probably wouldn't call my dog "it" because he's my dog and I love him) Usually when people call another person "it" they are being racist or expressing some other form of hatred where they are calling the group that the other person is a part of less than human. So yeah no, do not call someone "it".... unless they ask you to then go ahead, they will have their reasons.

"It" is really never used to refer to people. If you called someone "it," depending on the context a native speaker would have a hard time understanding what you were saying. Doing it intentionally is very rude. It's *sometimes* used for babies, but I would still call this pretty rude. It's probably acceptable for an unborn baby when you don't know the gender. If you're learning and made the mistake on accident, don't worry about it too much. People understand that language learning is hard and you can make mistakes. Just don't do it on purpose.

Very. "It" is considered dehumanizing and is exclusively reserved for inanimate objects ("see that chair? go sit on it") or animals ("see that dog? what's it doing?") and even animals are usually referred to as he/him or she/her once their sex is established. The only obvious exceptions are, like other commenters have said, asking/announcing the sex of a newborn ("It's a boy/girl" or "Is it a boy or a girl?", after which the child is almost always referred to as he or she) or when someone specifically requests that you refer to them as "it" (some LGBTQIA+ people may use 'it' instead of he, she, or they). Otherwise, if you don't know someone's gender, use "they." (e.g. "Oh, someone forgot their passport in here! I hope they come back to get it!" Note the passport is an 'it' and the person is a 'they'.)

If they say that they would like to be called “it,” it’s fine. It’s also sometimes (under extremely limited circumstances) ok to refer to VERY young babies as “it,” and it’s usually ok to refer to future hypothetical babies as “it.” (Eg. “When the baby is born, it’ll sleep in the bassinet.”) Other than that, it’s very offensive, because it suggests that the other person isn’t human. We even feel uncomfortable referring to *pets* as “it.”

unless a person specifically says they prefer going by "it," it's generally considered really offensive/dehumanizing. "they" is a better option for gender neutral address if you aren't sure

99% of the time, it is very rude and intended to be dehumanizing. You should use “he,” “she,” singular “they,” or “he or she” for people. There are times when it’s okay to refer to a baby or child whose gender you don’t know using “it.” I couldn’t tell you what the exact rule is, and would advise not doing this as a non-native speaker unless someone else does it first. It’s never necessary to use “it” for babies, because you can always use singular “they” or “he or she.”

Besides in specific situations like a baby being born or someone who prefers those pronouns (very rare online, basically never irl), it’s pretty rude lmao. I’d avoid it

It’s considered rude if it isn’t their preferred pronoun, if it is then it’s rude not to.

Calling a person “it” is generally incredibly rude as it denotes whoever it is referring to as non-human. The plural pronoun equivalent, “they”, is usually acceptable, though, even for singular persons.

Extremely.

Very rude, for any reason any comment said. The only time it’s ever acceptable is if someone legitimately told you it’s okay, as I don’t generally care what I’m called. For the record, you don’t ask if you can call them that, they say it’s okay and probably unprompted in this situation, or the topic of conversation is how they like to be referred to. But, for added insight into this. My mom read some book called “A Child Called It” and told me about it a while ago. The child apparently suffered from extreme abuse, I assume it’s an addition to said abuse to dehumanizing the child by referring to them as “it,” likely by a parent. Author is Dave Pelzer.

When someone tells you their pronouns, believe them. Use them. Other than that, never, ever, ever, ever refer to a person as "it". Don't worry about the exceptions, just don't do it.

I will note that, yes, very rude, but odds are it will be considered a mistake at first. It feels *too* rude to be meant sincerely, unless it is *very* clear that's the intent.

Like everyone has said: It’s very very rude, unless someone has very specifically said that “it” is their preferred pronoun, which is very rare. However! There is a set of phrases where “it” is used with “to be” and it’s completely normal. You’ll notice that the people’s names also appear, so you’re not really calling anyone “it.” If someone is calling on the phone (especially in the olden days when we had one landline in the house). Like your brother answered the phone and yelled up the stairs “hey GarlicChipCookies, it’s for you!” If you phone someone that you know informally, they say hello, and you might say “it’s GarlicChipCookies” (more formally, you would say “this is GarlicChipCookies”) Who’s going to be at the party? It’s Larry, Doug, Neville, and all the other nerds. Who is going to be on the team? It’ll be Donna, Dolly, and Deana. Etc etc. Who’s in the meeting / on the team

everyone saying it's rude, how can I play guess who without asking "is it blank?" if I don't know if the character is male or female. I know I can just say "is the character..." but I wonder if there's a more natural way of asking it without being rude

it's extremely rude, but if it's obvious that you're an english learner, people won't take offense if you accidentally use it. they will correct you, but they won't be mad at a mistake

It’s so rude that most people who hear you will probably charitably assume you do not know basic English.

In American English, it is rude to use for anything other than inanimate objects. This does have varying levels, but is considered not just extremely rude, but insulting for people. It is less so for animals, but still considered rude, especially for pets.

Don’t do it, but it’s technically better English than the singular “they” and can be found in myriad literature.

Very.

extremely. its very dehumanizing . “it” refers to things inanimate objects and sometimes to non-human living things (animals, plants).

it's very rude, as the other commenters said, but i have noticed that some non-binary and transgender people choose "it" as a pronoun for themselves rather than "he/she/they" so that's something to be aware of i suppose. still, it's rare and i feel like i see it much less nowadays

Calling a person “it” is what a villain in a movie would say. Don’t do it. If you’re having trouble discerning the gender of someone or if they are nonbinary or gender non-conforming, using “they” is likely the safest thing to do. You can also ask! My trans and nonbinary homies have told me they would rather someone ask up front what pronouns they use than have it be awkward later.

It’s probably the rudest possible thing you could call someone aside from some slurs.

When in doubt, don't use it, because it can be so offensive. But besides the previously cited examples, there are other acceptable usages as a placeholder. Let's assume you have a male friend named Joe. If you are surprised to see him or pointing him out to someone you might say "Hey, it's Joe!" It would be odd to say "~~Hey, he's Joe~~!" in those circumstances. On the other hand, if your name is Sam and Joe doesn't recognize you, you might say "Hey, it's me—Sam!" (Pedants might say "It is *I*" is correct, but you probably shouldn't say that unless you're from the 19th century or earlier.) As previously mentioned, "Who is it?" is acceptable, and the answer would be "It's \[name\]" or "It's me." Referring to babies as "it" even when gender was known seems to have been very common in the past, but now we usually use he/her/them. When gender is unknown and the speaker or writer does not want to use singular them, they will often just use "the baby" or "your baby" as appropriate. Referring to animals as "it" used to be common and some style guides still recommend it, but many pet owners find it offensive on their animals' behalf. It can also raise questions as to whether the speaker or writer regards animals as beings that deserve consideration or mere objects, so it's probably best to avoid it in most contexts. Refer to pets by name or use he/she/they. With wild animals, "it" is acceptable but a lot of people prefer to use "he" or "her" when the sex is known. When it's not people will often assign one (the default seems to be male for most people) or use the singular "they."

Very, very rude. That's calling someone an object rather than a person and shows absolute disregard and contempt. Don't do it.

Extremely

In previous centuries “it” was sometimes used to refer to a child. Now it is rarely used for any person other than an infant and that is fading quickly.  How rude?  8/10. 

Unless someone specifically requests to be referred to as "it," that's considered extremely disrespectful.

It's extremely rude to call someone "it," unless they specifically ask you to. "It" implies the person is an object. If you want to specify someone whose gender is unknown, use "they." I will say that "it" does have a use when referring to babies, specifically when the child is unborn or their gender is being revealed.

It is generally considered to be quite rude, as “it” is used for inanimate objects; however, there are some people who would prefer “it” to “she” or “he.” If you’re unsure of which pronoun to use, either ask that person or use “they.”

Yeah, that can be pretty rude. It’s kinda dehumanizing, you know? Like, we’re all people with feelings, so referring to someone that way feels disrespectful. Most people would definitely take offense. You wanna use “they,” “he,” or “she” instead, depending on the person. Just makes sense to treat everyone with respect, right?

It's rude and usually hurtful because, as other commenters have said, "it" is for objects and animals. If you call someone an it, even if they've asked you to, you are basically calling them a thing or an animal. "It" is often used to insult transgender and gender nonconforming people for their identities. If you don't know a person's gender, or if the person is androgynous/gender neutral/gender nonconforming, the right pronoun in English is "they". As in, "I like that person's outfit. I should ask them where they got their jacket." Just don't risk calling somebody an it.

Depends on the person it’s fitting for some people lol

for the most part, calling someone "it" is extremely rude. It's typically only used when talking about inanimate objects or animals that aren't pets, so if you use it to refer to a person, it's seen as dehumanizing. If you don't know someone's gender, it's pretty common to just refer to that person using "they/them," even if it's just one person (e.g. "I saw someone drop their phone.") There are some specific situations where you could use "it" to refer to somebody and it sounds really natural. You might hear someone go "Who is it?" when someone knocks on the door, or "It's a girl!" when a baby is delivered. You kinda just have to memorize these cases. The more you practice the more natural it'll feel to you.

Unless the person has specifically requested it, very rude.

Incredibly rude. If you don’t know or don’t want to include someone’s gender, just use singular “they”. As in, “Someone was here, but they just left.”

"Is this your son?" "Yes. It is.". "Who is that person?". "It's my mother." That's about the only way it's ok.

Very, unless those are the person's chosen pronouns, in which case it would be rude to not call that person "it".

I remember feeling offended when my British friend said “Oh, you poor thing!” to me, haha. She meant well, of course but to me it sounded like being called an “it”

Very rude, Use „they“ instead. Yes, even for just one person; that’s actually how it works. It’s commonly used when you’re unsure about someone’s gender.

Very rude. It suggests that you view the person as an animal. There may be some specific contexts in which it would be okay, but generally speaking, don't do this.

Yeah this is a never. With very rare circumstances that have already been mentioned (all either 1. Variations on “who is it?” or 2. baby who’s just been born. Not just any baby, only a brand new baby) If you don’t know gender it’s always “they” or a guess. It’s always better to accidentally say “what did he say?” when it turns out their boss is a woman and realize your mistake. The correct way to do this is “what did they say?” even though it is only one person. “It” will either read as extremely intentionally rude or, if you’re lucky, “really terrible at English,” haha, as in, it will be clear that you never sat down in a classroom or anything

Its considered very rude except for a few niche cases 1.) Announcement of a baby's gender "its a boy!" or "its a girl!" are common well known phrases that are even printed on balloons, put on cakes, etc. 2.) There are some gender identities that prefer it/its pronouns. Its very rare but I know a few people that do this. In this case that person will likely let you know beforehand and from that point forward it would be considered rude and possibly offensive to *not* use it/its pronouns for that person.

I have heard from a few non-binary people that prefer or don't mind being called "it". But they are very much the exception. For 99% of all other people, being called "it" feels rather offensive.

It's either dehumanizing or humerous. "Awaken it from its lair" is something someone would say to someone ordering them to get someone up from their sleep. This is light-hearted, not rude at all. The only time I can think of "it" being rude is in the case of discrimination. "Get it out of here" referring to a black person, would imply you do not see black people as human.

“it” is used for inanimate objects only, unless in very specific scenarios or if someone specifies that “it” is a preferred pronoun. using “it” for someone essentially objectifies them in a very rude way. if you don’t know the pronouns to use for someone, default to “they” never “it”

Extremely.

Very rude. “It” is not a pronoun typically used for humans, and is most often used for inanimate objects, it would be dehumanizing to use it in reference to a person.

A very small handful of people within queer and autistic communities self-identify as 'it.' Unless someone tells you that 'it' is the pronoun they prefer, then you should go out of your way to avoid using it as a pronoun for anyone but small babies, as it's considered very dehumanizing and rude. Especially if you're white and refer to a person of color as 'it,' you'll be seen as exceptionally racist. A better neutral pronoun to use for a person of indeterminate gender is 'them.' Don't worry if anyone has told you that singular they/them is incorrect, they're mistaken and failing to keep up with evolving language.

Extremely rude, usually. In most cases, it would be less rude to use the wrong gendered pronoun

If you're playing tag it's expected. Other than that there are very few situations where it's used for humans. One would be "it's a boy/girl" when revealing the sex of a baby.

“It rubs the lotion on its skin, or it gets the hose again.”

Think of it as a passive insult. If you don't speak English natively you might be given a pass but, for a native speaker, it transmits dismissal of your personhood. If you see it in any shows, it's usually used as a way to dismiss the humanity of the person and is super hurtful for whoever receives it, not only emotionally but in the conversation at hand as it's usually used to dismiss what they're saying.

Unless you say someone is an “it girl”!

I'd say it goes right past rude and is actually offensive.

Extremely rude, unless they (it) clearly state(s) that as a preferred pronoun which is extremely rare

Incredibly.

Very rude. "It" is used for inanimate objects or sometimes animals.

Very rude. “It” is used to refer to objects. Calling someone “it” implies they aren’t human.

Quite. I can't think of a situation where you'd use it and not mean it as an insult. They appropriate way to refer to someone when you don't know their gender, I believe, is "he or she", but that's way too formal and colloquially you refer to someone you don't know as "they". Someone was in the alley and they were making a lot of noise. I don't believe it's grammatically correct, but it's how it is used in regular conversation.

Extremely.

“It” is very unusual, it would be considered rude if you do it on purpose to dehumanize them. Strangely enough it’s completely normal to refer to people as “that” or “this” when introducing them to someone.

Some people use it/its pronouns, but other than them yeah it’s not a good idea

There is \*never\* a good reason to refer to an actual human being as "it".

Very rude, “it” belongs to inanimate objects. Though, there are some people that like to be called “it”. Definitely the exception and not the rule though.

Very. Don’t.

One of the simplest yet rudest things you could ever do to somebody, you're basically calling them sub-human or an animal

We call people It all the time in specific situations ("Who is it?" "Who was it at the door?") when we don't know who it (!) is. But when a person is identified, we no longer call them it.

Outside of a few specific contexts (generally where someone's sex is unknown or irrelevant), you can't call people "it". Even animals are often "he" and "she". "It" is a rock, a trash can, or a shoe. Using this word for a person is the same as saying they aren't human. It's such a ridiculously bad insult that it's almost cartoonish. It's such a bad insult that nobody uses it because it makes the insulter sound dumb for trying so hard to be insulting. It makes them sound like either a murderous lunatic or an angry, crying four-year-old. 😂 Even if you're talking about babies, you wouldn't say "aw, look at Timmy, it's so cute". If you know Timmy's name and sex, he's not an "it" anymore. You use "it" when talking about hypothetical or unknown babies, like "is it a boy or a girl?" or "a baby needs its mother" (which is a general statement about all babies). This usage isn't dehumanizing. English used to have grammatical gender, and I think it's just a holdover from that. 🤔

Why in the world would anyone call a human being “it”? The only case is when someone refers to a baby as “it”, modifying the noun“baby”. It’s rude AF to refer to a person as “it” otherwise.

Very rude. It's disrespectful because it treats a person like an object, not a human being. Everyone deserves to be called by their name or pronouns.

It has been the default in English for an unknown person up until the recent "them" push. In fact, you use it all the time already, and before the push, people were pushing for "it" to be used more often once again. "It" is singular, referring to an individual. Who is it? It's me. It's Bob and myself. Who was it who did the crime? Was it the king? No, it was the butler. The figure in the hall took off its coat. Tag, you're it. Is it a boy or a girl? Even just 20 years ago when I was in school, "it" was defined as "a person, place, or thing" and represented any noun. Almost every culture uses some form of "it" for describing people, and in some culture, the use of "they" (royal they and we) would have gotten you beheaded (or worse). The most common application of "they" when referring to people is "royal they and we" which became popular as monarchs would represent the nation at all times, and even something as small as having a servant fetch a meal would have been considered working for the nation. In fact, in some places, this became a culturally imposed restriction in which the leader would never refer to oneself in the singular, even when asking for service. The point was explicitly that a leader has no individuality. Everything is always for the people. For a leader to say "I" would have been considered the same as stealing the work of others and claiming it for oneself. "They" is the plural of "it", so everything that you would apply to "it" as being vague and general still applies, but now it's not even an individual. Just like the removal of the term "thee" which sparked rebuttles such as y'all, (thee was the singular of you until people tried to change it because "commoners aren't smart enough to understand the difference", no I'm not kidding, and that's why people tried so hard to find solutions to what was arguably one of the most damaging things to happen to English), the removal of "it" has serious ramifications in communication that pose serious issues, especially when attempting to get witness reports straight.

It's actually more offensive than swearing. That probably seems weird if your language doesn't have gendered or (in)animate pronouns (or swearing for that matter) but objectification/dehumanization is highly offensive in the English speaking world.9

Very.

Just to add: it’s not *inherently* offensive, like profanity would be. It is offensive because it is intended to be hurtful. And since “it” is almost never the right pronoun for an adult human it’s perfectly clear that you’re trying to be hurtful. But it wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if a learner said it by mistake, whereas if they said “f**k you” instead of “bless you” that might offend someone either way.

I wouldn’t refer to anyone as “it”. Not an adult, a child, a baby, or a dog.

Calling somebody it if they never asked you to is objectifying them. If you do not know their gender just call them by they/them. They/them is not just a pronoun to talk about more than one person, It's used to speak of a person you do not know the sex or gender of. Such as if a friend of yours was having you meet one of their friends but they never mentioned their sex, You would naturally call that friend by they/them.

Pretty darn rude. It’s why I use it to refer to my current president. It doesn’t have a heart and barely has a working brain, so it probably doesn’t care.

There are some cases where “it” is normal usage. Someone knocks on your door. “Who is it?” “It’s grandpa.” That sort of thing.

Yeah but I’ve met someone literally go by pronouns it/they. LOL

very. Your basically saying they're not a person. You can use it with babies you don't know or who haven't been born yet, but some people will get upset about that pretty quickly

Not just abhorrently rude, but dehumanizing and hostile. Avoid using “it” when talking about human beings.

Rude. But be forgiving to yourself if it's not the same in your language. In Finnish, for example, we rarely use "hän" (she/he) but rather "se" (it). "Se on hyvä tyyppi" is basically "he is a good guy" even though the literal meaning is "it is a good guy". If your language level is poor, confusing he/she/it is not a problem. If your language level is good, those are basics you should handle. If you are not sure whether to use she or he, use they.

Quite

There are rare people who prefer to be called "it" like Spice8Rack, but in general, it sounds dehumanizing. Don't do it.

They're a "someone" as you have described. It would be incredibly rude to use descriptors exclusively for objects on them.

I'm not sure if it's a dialect thing for me since I'm from a place with a very specific dialect. It's very rude to refer to someone as "it" or "that," and it is basically saying they are an animal / object with no gender or name. BUT it can be an okay thing to say in certain context! Like, "That's a cool guy" But even then, you can say,"He's a cool guy. " And it also depends on your tone if you were being sarcastic or not while saying it. As far as the word "it", I can't think of a specific sentence where you'd refer to someone as "it" besides playing tag, lol. So, I probably would stick to saying he,him,she, and her. (I spose you'd add they in there now to).. English seems to be pretty different depending on where it's spoken, and there's many phrases in different cultures and dialects that may be rude in one that's not rude in another. It's always cool hearing my foreign buddies talking with a thick accent speaking but still using Newfoundland dialect😂

On top of what other people said, while it is almost always considered to be rude and incorrect, there are certain people who choose to have it/its pronouns. This is unusual, but people like that do exist.

I think most of the comments address this well. I want to add, calling someone an "it" can also imply a lack of gender. Youre not a boy or girl. Just an it. If you called a trans person, or sexually ambiguous person an "it" youre saying theyre too weird to be a man or woman.

Generally just not alright unless they're a bit weird and deliberately requesting this label. Just don't, as a general rule.

Consider: there’s a book called “A Child Called It” that recounts some of the most horrific child abuse you can imagine. Calling someone “it” is seen as wildly disrespectful and degrading. DEFINITELY avoid this mistake. 

Depending on the context, "it" maybe fine to call a baby, a person may use it/its pronouns. Other than that, it's considered negative and dehumanizing. A better pronoun would be "they/them".

yet people who don’t use their hearts&brains and are bigoted still refer to others as an it, especially if they’re nonhuman fellow animals… so don’t, ever… it is for objects/property NOT someone (:

It's very rude. But be careful, because there are grammatical "it"s "what did you think of what he said?"  "it was funny". (what he said, not replacing "he" with it)  It is amazing to me that Larry is still here. (dummy it, I am not calling Larry "it").  Less obvious in more complex sentences.

You can call someone it as long as 'it' is too young to speak (I.e., babies). It's a thing in English.

dehumanizing and rude to refer to someone as “it” UNLESS they indicate that they would like to be called that.

It depends on if you put a little sh in front of it or not. 

As a native I wouldn’t find it rude I would just find it a bit odd

*It rubs the lotion on its skin...*

As rude as you can be. And it’s also likely to cause confusion.

Extremely rude. Please do not do this as people will almost 100% assume it’s malicious. Even for babies and pets we would always use a gender pronoun as ‘it’ is reserved for inanimate objects rather than proper nouns. There are pronouns for men and women, and anyone inbetween or unknown you can say they or use their name.

Some people go by it/its pronouns.

EXTREMELY RUDE, but with one exception. There are very rare cases where someone will choose to identify as non-binary or neuter and choose to take "it" as their preferred pronoun. If this is explicitly the choice and stated preference of the person being referred to, it is acceptable, but it will still be VERY unusual and feel wrong to a native speaker. I have experienced this firsthand, and it was easier to just refer to them with they/them or their name.

There is one orange of a person which may be called “it.” Other than that, it’s incredibly demeaning.