vivify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to give life to; animate; quicken.
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to enliven; brighten; sharpen.
verb
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to bring to life; animate
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to make more vivid or striking
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of vivify
First recorded in 1535–45; late Middle English from Middle French vivifier from Late Latin vīvificāre ). See vivi-, -fy ( def. )
Explanation
When you vivify something, you bring new excitement or life to it. If you decide to liven up your boring apartment by painting the walls every color of the rainbow, you can say that you're trying to vivify your home. You might vivify your family's meals by experimenting with exotic spices or vivify your school by hiring circus performers to ride unicycles up and down the halls. The Latin root word of vivify is vivus, or "alive," which is also the origin of the closely related word vivid.
Vocabulary lists containing vivify
"Train Time," Vocabulary from the short story
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"Train Time" by D'Arcy McNickle
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This Week In Culture: March 7–13, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Like a novelist,” Rafferty wrote, “he finds the human details that vivify the character.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 9, 2020
The McBurneys here did much to vivify the drama, sometimes vaguely, sometimes, as in a Los Angeles film scene, overly specific.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2020
Two moving and expansive books about enduring American symbols vivify abstract ideas through surprisingly specific images.
From New York Times • Sep. 4, 2018
He will vivify the church by creating a vacuum.
From Slate • Jan. 12, 2017
And that the whole thing has but one explanation—in Calvert's kindness and generosity; who, seeing the helplessness of this poor depressed creature, has actually sacrificed himself to vivify and cheer him.
From A Rent In A Cloud by Lever, Charles James
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
