epitomize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to contain or represent in small compass; serve as a typical example of; typify.
This meadow epitomizes the beauty of the whole area.
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to make an epitome of.
to epitomize an argument.
verb
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to be a personification of; typify
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to make an epitome of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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epitomizesimple
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epitomizessimple
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have epitomizedperfect
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has epitomizedperfect
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am epitomizingprogressive
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are epitomizingprogressive
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is epitomizingprogressive
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have been epitomizingperfect progressive
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has been epitomizingperfect progressive
Past
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epitomizedsimple
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had epitomizedperfect
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was epitomizingprogressive
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were epitomizingprogressive
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had been epitomizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of epitomize
Explanation
If you epitomize something, you’re a perfect example of that thing. If you never get nervous when playing basketball and can always make that last-second shot, your teammates might say you epitomize mental toughness. A person can epitomize something — usually an abstract quality, like grace or greed — but epitomize can apply to other things as well. A popular band might epitomize the spirit of the new decade, which means it has all the main characteristics associated with the era's music, like long folksy beards, pretty harmonies, and earnest lyrics. A frustrating situation at work involving careless coworkers might make you say that they epitomize everything that’s wrong with your job.
Vocabulary lists containing epitomize
The Color of Water
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Into Thin Air
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Harriet Tubman
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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:
The two entrepreneurs came to epitomize a certain swagger of the first hype cycle roughly a decade ago when Silicon Valley was betting it could replace a world of human-driven cars with robots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026
It’s been a week of upheaval in Hawthorne, the South Bay suburb where the Beach Boys got their start in the 1960s and came to epitomize the postwar beach culture of Southern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2025
“Water projects came to epitomize the pork barrel; they were the oil can that lubricated the nation’s legislative machinery.”
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2024
But it’s those first five names mentioned in this column that epitomize the distinction between the Mariners and the rest of the league.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
The time-tested strategy of using those who epitomize moral virtue as symbols in racial justice campaigns is far more difficult to employ in efforts to reform the criminal justice system.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
The fund, founded in 1929, epitomizes Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle’s values —own a balanced mix of stocks and bonds, and keep your costs down.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
For me, his dilemma epitomizes both the potential and pitfalls of investing in private assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac, this brand-new, modern home epitomizes luxury.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2025
For reform advocates, Eagle’s case epitomizes the problem with prosecuting teens as adults, but it also marks a positive sign for the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2025
"The Fostering of Aslaug" is drawn from Thorpe's Northern Mythology, which epitomizes older sources.
From The Influence of Old Norse Literature on English Literature by Nordby, Conrad Hjalmar
Robinson epitomized Sierra Canyon’s “refuse to lose” mindset.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026
Some longevity influencers attract rubbernecking for their quixotic quests to live forever, epitomized by venture capitalist Bryan Johnson’s vampiric infusions of his teenage son’s blood plasma.
From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2026
As a victim of increasingly effective gunnery, Arundel also epitomized another development that would expedite the end of England’s sporadic efforts to subdue the rival realm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
He says he was inspired by farmers’ markets in Los Angeles and grab-and-go shops in the Hamptons—places that epitomized the current craze for all things healthy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
She epitomized the attitude I wanted to emulate, to be true to yourself, even when the costs are high, while simultaneously uniting people through love and laughter.
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Times restaurant critic Bill Addison as “deftly engineered chaos,” ultimately epitomizing the “L.A. dreamer, the go-getter.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
A deal epitomizing the new era of resource nationalism was unveiled Wednesday when Glencore agreed to sell a stake in two African copper mines to a consortium backed by the U.S. government.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
Messi is thrilling his legion of fans along the way, with his swivel and driving run to set up the third goal for Álvarez in the 69th minute epitomizing his confidence and swagger.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
Maris started the 1961 season epitomizing the idea that baseball was a matter of running down flyballs, stretching singles into doubles, bunting cleanly and knocking the occasional home run.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 6, 2022
How, indeed, did Schröder achieve the great credit of putting Shakespeare's plays upon the German stage but by epitomizing the epitomizer?
From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 02 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes by Francke, Kuno
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.
