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:
It's a Sin actor Callum Scott Howells, who stars as Henry Paget in Madfabulous, previously said it was a "genuine honour" to portray the fifth Marquess of Anglesey.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
"The Tates are engaged in several businesses 'teaching' men how to earn money. It is in their interest to portray themselves on social media as uberwealthy," it adds.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Davis’ lawyers will seek to portray him as a fabricator — his bragging is all fiction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The two met around a decade ago doing a chemistry read for 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” where he would play Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, and she would portray MJ, who ultimately becomes his love interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
NOTE.—In a few instances pro- is changed into pur-, as purpose; into por-, as portray; and into pol-, as pollute.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
He tracks them down, travels with them, portrays them in all their unusual specificity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
He tells the BBC the film portrays "the human condition", with the characters living in "the apocalypse" but "still looking for something else and hoping for something else".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Controversial influencer Andrew Tate portrays himself as "uberwealthy" but did not own cars and a yacht featured on his social media and exaggerated his lifestyle for online attention, his legal representatives have said.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Yet her latest documentary, debuting on Netflix Wednesday, is “Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing,” which portrays the airplane maker’s continuing malfeasance as not just greedy but malevolent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
And if I’m such a rock star, how come the media always portrays me as some unwashed geek who never goes outside?
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
He says a dystopian future like the one portrayed in the film is "frightening to think about" but "it's something we have to examine and remember, because we are on the cusp of these realities".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Rowling’s beloved children’s series, Kenneth Branagh portrayed the Hogwarts instructor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
That has never been adequately portrayed in theatrical features.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Recent media reporting has portrayed varying perspectives on operational tempo, crew morale and the realities facing our deployed forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
In the wake of the first Earth Day in 1970, a group named Keep America Beautiful, Inc., put up billboards that portrayed an actor in Indian dress quietly weeping over polluted land.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Harington, popular for portraying reluctant hero Jon Snow in the TV adaptation of George R.R.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
And it was really fun to catch up with him, especially considering how much he’s shouldered in portraying Dr. Michael Rabinovitch, a.k.a.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
It stars Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway as Odysseus and his wife Penelope, with Tom Holland portraying their son Telemachus.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Wedderbern said she had always believed the portrait may have been painted by Read, a distant relative of hers who specialised in portraying women and children.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
There they watch a play portraying the events that followed the Battle of Danno-ura.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
