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.

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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, ˈprəʊfɪlɪst /

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 )

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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.

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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

AstraZeneca noted that the safety profile of the combination was consistent with the individual medicines, and no new safety signals were found.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

It looked at 36 studies, involving 3,750 men, but said it was still not clear what the "safety profile" of these procedures were.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

There was another reason this row had such a high profile.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Southeast Asia's biggest economy has long battled corruption in its public and private sectors despite strengthening anti-graft laws, creating special investigative commissions and arresting several high profile people.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Then I stare at the profile pic and name, too.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

The Sunday People profiles a mother who has approved an operation "to cut daughter's brain in half".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

“That have complex flavor profiles, that are not just juice and a splash of soda or a lime or something.”

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

Press coverage swells with glowing profiles of landowners who turned down offers from developers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

There were lots of similarities in the profiles sharing this kind of content.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Yet she was delighted by accurate profiles, and she remained open to interviews with trustworthy reporters, especially women.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

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

Members of the Adolescents, the Vandals and Social Distortion are profiled about their wild contributions to punk rock in new book ‘Tearing Down the Orange Curtain,’ out May 20.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 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

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiled two Argentine-Americans living in North Carolina who had supported Trump because of his tough stance against undocumented immigrants.

From Salon ● Apr. 28, 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

Researchers plan to combine detailed cognitive testing with brain imaging, blood biomarkers, genetics, neuropathology, immune profiling, sleep and activity monitoring, social and environmental measurements, and other indicators of whole-person health.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 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 paper, titled "Single-nucleus chromatin accessibility profiling identifies cell types and functional variants contributing to major depression" by Anjali Chawla and Gustavo Turecki et al., was published in Nature Genetics.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2026

"Parents deserve independent confirmation that the moderation is sufficient, that help systems are effective, and that age checks aren't used for commercial profiling."

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 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