世俗化（英文：Secularization）是西方宗教社会学提出来的理论概念，主要用来形容在现代社会发生的一种变化，即宗教逐渐由在现实生活中无处不在的地位跟深远影响，退缩到一个相对独立的宗教领域里，政治、经济、文化等层面逐渐去除宗教色彩。德国社会学家马克斯·韦伯用「除魅」（disenchantment）来形容现代生活的理性化。法国社会学家艾弥尔·涂尔干也在他不同的作品中一再提出现代社会世俗化的趋势，他认为神圣性跟机械连带的社会控制机制在现代工业为主、个人主义盛行的社会中正遭受到侵蚀挑战，必须寻找新的社会共识与神圣性。

Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward nonreligious values and secular institutions. The secularization thesis refers to the belief that as societies progress, particularly through modernization and rationalization, religion loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance. The term secularization is also used in the context of the lifting of the monastic restrictions from a member of the clergy.