biography
Americannoun
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biographies
plural
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a written account of another person's life.
the biography of Byron by Marchand.
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an account in biographical form of an organization, society, theater, animal, etc.
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such writings collectively.
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the writing of biography as an occupation or field of endeavor.
noun
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an account of a person's life by another
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such accounts collectively
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of biography
From the Greek word biographía, dating back to 1675–85. See bio-, -graphy
Explanation
A biography is an account of somebody's life written by somebody else, complete with details of the most important parts. These days, anyone, of any age, can be the subject of a biography: Justin Bieber, at the tender age of 17, had one written about his life. A biography is not to be confused with an autobiography, an account of someone's life written by the subject himself. You'll find biographies in printed form (remember books?), but also increasingly in the form of e-books, TV dramatizations, and cinematic "bio-docs."
Vocabulary lists containing biography
Words to Live By: Bio
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Write On!: Graph and Gram
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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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.
See Examples For:
Dressed in a white blazer and red skirt, she recites De La Cruz’s biography as the real congressman looks on with a glowing smile.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
Humphrey Carpenter’s authorized 1977 biography contains three index mentions of Shakespeare, none directing the reader to anything complimentary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Drawing inspiration from “The Magician,” Colm Tóibín’s fictionalized 2021 Mann biography, Pawlikowski uses this trip as a jumping-off point, introducing real-life individuals who were not present and inventing a new central dynamic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
Flanagan’s campaign also acknowledged she didn’t complete a double major at the school, as is implied in an official state biography that states she “earned her bachelor’s degree in American Indian studies and child psychology.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
After finishing a few poetry books earlier in the week, I had read my first biography.
From "Amal Unbound" by Aisha Saeed
Ford, who’s bidding to become Nevada’s first Black governor, has one of those up-by-the-bootstraps biographies that campaign consultants see as spun gold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
Mr. Wade the folklorist provides thumbnail biographies for each of his subjects, several informed by in-person interviews, while Mr. Wade the musician breaks down the idiosyncrasies and innovations of their techniques and lyrics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
As well as "Succession", the five-times married tycoon has been the subject of a spate of biographies, as well as a new Netflix documentary, "Dynasty: The Murdochs" which was released in March this year.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
In between the book’s linked stories, Ms. Daanje inserts excerpts from those scant archives—Millicent’s letters, the poems and cryptic jottings from Eliza May’s notebooks—as well as passages from various later biographies of the Draydens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
I've made great progress with many of them, because for a long time I've been taking notes while reading biographies or history books.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
