profile

American  

[proh-fahyl] / ˈproʊ faɪl /

noun

• profiles
  plural

1. the outline or contour of the human face, especially the face viewed from one side.

   Synonyms:

   silhouette

2. a picture or representation of the side view of a head.

3. an outlined view, as of a city or mountain.

4. an outline of an object, as a molding, formed on a vertical plane passed through the object at right angles to one of its principal horizontal dimensions.

5. a drawing or the like representing this.

6. Surveying. a vertical section of the ground surface taken parallel to a survey line.

7. a verbal, arithmetical, or graphic summary or analysis of the history, status, etc., of a process, activity, relationship, or set of characteristics.

   a biochemical profile of a patient's blood;

   a profile of national consumer spending.

8. an informal biography or a concisely presented sketch of the life and character of a person.

9. Digital Technology. the personal details, images, user statistics, social media timeline, etc., that an individual creates and associates with a username or online account.

10. a set of characteristics or qualities that identify a type or category of person or thing.

    a profile of a typical allergy sufferer.

11. the look, configuration, or lines of something.

    cars with a modern profile.

12. degree of noticeability; visibility.

13. Psychology. a description of behavioral and personality traits of a person compared with accepted norms or standards.

14. Theater. a flat stage property or scenic piece cut from a firm, thin material, as of beaverboard or plywood, and having an irregular edge resembling the silhouette of a natural object.

15. (in a gear) the outline of either end of a tooth.

16. Naval Architecture. a longitudinal elevation or section of a vessel.

---

verb (used with object)

• profiles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• profiled,
  past participle,  past
• profiling
  present participle

1. to draw a profile of.

2. to produce or present a history, description, or analysis of.

   The magazine will profile the candidate in its next issue.

profile British  

/ ˈprəʊfaɪl /

noun

1. a side view, outline, or representation of an object, esp of a human face or head

2. a view or representation of an object, esp a building, in contour or outline

3. a short biographical sketch of a subject

4. a graph, table, or list of scores representing the extent to which a person, field, or object exhibits various tested characteristics or tendencies

   a population profile

5. a vertical section of soil from the ground surface to the parent rock showing the different horizons

6. 1. a vertical section of part of the earth's crust showing the layers of rock

   2. a representation of such a section

7. the outline of the shape of a river valley either from source to mouth ( long profile ) or at right angles to the flow of the river ( cross profile )

---

verb

1. to draw, write, or make a profile of

2. to cut out a shape from a blank (as of steel) with a cutter

profile Idioms  

1. see keep a low profile.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-profile
  noun
• profiler
  noun
• profilist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• profiles
  plural

Participles

• profiling
  present
• profiled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• profile
  simple
• profiles
  simple
• have profiled
  perfect
• has profiled
  perfect
• am profiling
  progressive
• are profiling
  progressive
• is profiling
  progressive
• have been profiling
  perfect progressive
• has been profiling
  perfect progressive

Past

• profiled
  simple
• had profiled
  perfect
• was profiling
  progressive
• were profiling
  progressive
• had been profiling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will profile
  simple
• will have profiled
  perfect
• will be profiling
  progressive
• will have been profiling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of profile

First recorded in 1650–60; (for the noun) from Italian prof(f)ilo, noun derivative of profilare “to delineate, outline,” from pro- pro- ¹ + -filare, derivative of filo “line, thread,” from Latin fīlum

Explanation

If a magazine editor asks you to write a profile of an up-and-coming novelist, she's asking you to write a biographical sketch, to give the readers a sense of the novelist as a person. Profile comes from the Italian profilo, the thin colored border of cloth that outlines a garment. It came to mean any kind of sketch or outline, especially of faces. If someone compliments your profile means you look nice from the side (try outlining from other angles). If you have a criminal profile, your criminal record creates a picture of an active life of crime. A profile is also a drawing of the earth in cross-section, showing layers of crust.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

profile profiles profiled profiling

“The increase reflects ongoing cost inflation and additional non-mill expansion capital requirements across the portfolio, with the composition of the 500,000 oz production profile having evolved significantly over the past year,” Ord Minnett says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Making her Broadway debut in the musical Chicago, she faced criticism that it was her profile, more than her talent, which landed her the role.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

The 1959 image features his father, a shoe repairman, in a wooden chair reading the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión, while his side profile casts a shadow on a vintage console to his side.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

One test involved users of tech-industry forum Hacker News who had posted their LinkedIn profile in their bio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

And I blinked in surprise, staring at the tiny profile picture beside these words, at the beaming, bronze-skinned, round-faced woman who missed me and was thinking of me.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

There is a clear generational shift with the new presenters, all three of whom built their profiles on social media - and critics have been mixed on how successfully that translates to The Grand Tour.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

The company tried to report and block the trolls, but they kept popping up with new profiles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Nora explains to the counselor running a workplace mental health seminar that the Greeks viewed anger as a kind of insanity, but with different diagnostic profiles.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026

The compounds have also shown promising safety profiles, making them potential candidates for future therapies aimed at restoring vision.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026

They assigned them names and assembled elaborate profiles of their personalities.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Short already was profiled in the 2026 Netflix documentary “Marty, Life Is Short,” nominated for three Emmys in its own right.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Looking at England's equaliser in the Euro 2024 final, the ability of individual players - profiled properly - to come up with solutions was clear.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Charniak, 85, is one of several families profiled in the new book “Grandfamilies: Stories of Children and the Loving Relatives Who Raise Them.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026

The New York Times recently profiled a family of three earning $500,000 a year and living in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

Twenty feet from us stood a figure, straight, motionless, profiled, the scarlet hieb and white shirt an inlay of bright enamel against the green of the high grass.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

The genetic profiling revealed that female belugas regularly switch mates across breeding seasons, also over a long reproductive life.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026

But activists say hundreds have been pushed across the border from Assam in recent months without due legal process, often based on ethnic profiling.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

The National Security Agency also developed a behavioral profiling program, SKYNET, to identify Al Qaeda couriers in Afghanistan.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

He tracked changes in the microbial populations using advanced DNA analysis and metabolite profiling to better understand how fermentation unfolds.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026

He thought my idea of profiling a new recruit, following him all the way through, was a good one.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

• analysis
• biography
• chart
• review
• sketch
• study
• survey