magnify
to increase the apparent size of, as a lens does.
to make greater in actual size; enlarge: to magnify a drawing in preparing for a fresco.
to cause to seem greater or more important; attribute too much importance to; exaggerate: to magnify one's difficulties.
to make more exciting; intensify; dramatize; heighten: The playwright magnified the conflict to get her point across.
Archaic. to extol; praise: to magnify the Lord.
to increase or be able to increase the apparent or actual size of an object.
Origin of magnify
1Other words for magnify
Opposites for magnify
Other words from magnify
- mag·ni·fi·a·ble, adjective
- o·ver·mag·ni·fy, verb (used with object), o·ver·mag·ni·fied, o·ver·mag·ni·fy·ing.
- re·mag·ni·fy, verb (used with object), re·mag·ni·fied, re·mag·ni·fy·ing.
- un·mag·ni·fied, adjective
- un·mag·ni·fy·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use magnify in a sentence
In a close-to-human face, every inhuman trait becomes magnified.
Kevin Spacey Stars as a Frank Underwood-like Warmonger in ‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’ | Alec Kubas-Meyer | November 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDespite these horrors, the anguish of her abuse is magnified when people ask Walters why she never left her husband.
And the antagonism sure to be generated by such racial disparities was magnified by the sheer number of cases.
Ferguson Feeds Off the Poor: Three Warrants a Year Per Household | Michael Daly | August 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe response to the problem magnified the problem, at enormous cost as well.
Growing Number of Biosafety Labs Raises Red Flags | Center for Public Integrity | August 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIts role and utility and value has been greatly magnified from the original.
Distance, the uncertain light, and imagination, magnified it to a high wall; high as the wall of China.
The Giant of the North | R.M. BallantyneHe made him like the saints in glory, and magnified him in the fear of his enemies, and with his words he made prodigies to cease.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousAnd it was magnified even unto the strength of heaven: and it threw down of the strength, and of the stars, and trod upon them.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousAnd the men of Juda were magnified exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and of all the nations where their name was heard.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousThe extent of juvenile immorality in New Zealand may have been greatly magnified abroad.
Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents | Oswald Chettle Mazengarb et al.
British Dictionary definitions for magnify
/ (ˈmæɡnɪˌfaɪ) /
to increase, cause to increase, or be increased in apparent size, as through the action of a lens, microscope, etc
to exaggerate or become exaggerated in importance: don't magnify your troubles
(tr) rare to increase in actual size
(tr) archaic to glorify
Origin of magnify
1Derived forms of magnify
- magnifiable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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