portray
Americanverb (used with object)
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portrays,
present (3rd person singular)
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portrayed,
past participle, past
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portraying
present participle
verb
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to represent in a painting, drawing, sculpture, etc; make a portrait of
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to make a verbal picture of; depict in words
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to play the part of (a character) in a play or film
Synonym Usage
See depict.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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portrayalnoun
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portrayernoun
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preportrayverb (used with object)
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nonportrayableadjective
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portrayableadjective
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unportrayableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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portraysimple
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portrayssimple
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have portrayedperfect
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has portrayedperfect
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am portrayingprogressive
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are portrayingprogressive
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is portrayingprogressive
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have been portrayingperfect progressive
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has been portrayingperfect progressive
Past
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portrayedsimple
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had portrayedperfect
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was portrayingprogressive
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were portrayingprogressive
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had been portrayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of portray
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English portrayen, from Middle French portraire, from Late Latin prōtrahere “to depict,” Latin: “to draw forth,” equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + trahere “to draw”
Explanation
When you paint a picture of someone, either in words or in paint, you portray them. Actors portray characters too. Whether you're talking about acting or another art form, the idea is the same: representing a person and bringing to light their most important qualities. To portray a person is to show who that person is, giving a sense of their personality or character. Often, famous people don't like how they're portrayed. For example, Presidents usually hate how they're portrayed in editorial cartoons. When you portray someone, you can be positive or negative, accurate or inaccurate. It's up to you.
Vocabulary lists containing portray
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 6
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 4
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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 couple once thought to portray a rigid provincialism has proved extraordinarily flexible and open to endless reinterpretation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
He alleged that it was being used to portray the suspect as criminally irresponsible rather than having acted deliberately.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Both approaches portray the mind as constantly seeking stability and predictability.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026
“It’s weird to say and it’s probably weird to portray, and I don’t know how many people it’s going to resonate with, but that’s what I feel.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
I don’t have the words to explain to you how hard it is for me to sit and write this, to portray myself as if I were something special, as if I were not humble.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
She supports legislation banning members of Congress from trading stocks, wants to enact term limits and portrays herself as a pragmatist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
But his new film, Primetime, takes him in a completely new direction - as he portrays the real-life host of American TV show, To Catch a Predator.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
"The Social Reckoning" portrays Zuckerberg as an adult, a role played by Jeremy Strong.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
The women’s relationship is honest and nurturing, and Ms. Orringer portrays it with great sensitivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Squire portrays himself as aghast—though he can hardly have been surprised—when one famous condemned murderer, Shillitoni, interrupted an autopsy by going mad in his cell, breaking his furniture, and tearing his bedding to shreds.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
As portrayed by an excellent Samantha Sloyan, Margaret still punishes Carrie by frequently shoving her into a prayer closet, but she’s also more grounded in her humanity.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
For years, he has portrayed his team as the ultimate underdog, a group of underfunded no-names lucky to share the field with the real baseball powerhouses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
In the mid-late 1990s, Koenig portrayed a very different character, the ruthless Psi Corps telepath Alfred Bester, in another sci-fi space series, Babylon 5.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
In the 1999 corporate comedy “Office Space,” Riehle portrayed Tom, a middle manager who is laid off by the company before being seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident and winning a large settlement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
The entire history of the people, culminating with the horrifying story of the Ruin, was portrayed with immense complexity on the voluminous folds of the robe.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
Bass has issued withering critiques of Raman, portraying her as uninformed about Black voters and their history in the city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
The actor, best known for portraying Nick Miller on the hit comedy series, is looking to part ways with the four-bedroom, four-bathroom property, which offers approximately 3,153 square feet of living space.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
Winstone leads the cast as Alan "Razor" Sharp, an ex-SAS operative, with Cowbridge portraying a town in England.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The findings add to a growing body of research portraying Neanderthals as resourceful humans who understood and exploited the natural materials around them.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
In Eratosthenes’ time, globes were constructed portraying the Earth as viewed from space; they were essentially correct in the well-explored Mediterranean but became more and more inaccurate the farther they strayed from home.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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