deify

[ dee-uh-fahy ]

/ ˈdi əˌfaɪ /

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See synonyms for: deify / deifying on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), de·i·fied, de·i·fy·ing.

to make a god of; exalt to the rank of a deity; personify as a deity: to deify a beloved king.

to adore or regard as a deity: to deify wealth.

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Origin of deify

1300–50; Middle English deifien<Old French deifier<Late Latin deificāre.See deification, -ify

OTHER WORDS FROM deify

de·i·fi·er, nounhalf-de·i·fied, adjectivehy·per·de·i·fy, verb (used with object), hy·per·de·i·fied, hy·per·de·i·fy·ing.self-de·i·fy·ing, adjective

un·de·i·fied, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use deify in a sentence

In subsequent years, Early and several elite ex-officers would deify Lee while creating the Lost Cause interpretation of the Civil War.
A Southerner who abandoned the Lost Cause|John Reeves|February 5, 2021|Washington Post
To those in the outside world who deified her, it was a breathtaking betrayal.
Aung San Suu Kyi Faces New Charges After the Coup. Can Myanmar's Democracy Survive Without Her?|Amy Gunia|February 3, 2021|Time
The romantic solution deified our lovers so that we have become purged “through a perfect consummation with perfection itself.”
On Transhumanism and Why Technology Is Our Silicon Nervous System|Jason Silva|April 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And while Garcia had long been revered as the leader of the group, this was when, Weir says, fans “deified Jerry.”
Bob Weir on Drugged-Out Deadheads and Living in Jerry Garcia’s Shadow|Emily Shire|April 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He was the last of a deified generation of CBS News luminaries that included Walter Cronkite, Andy Rooney, and Ed Bradley.
Emotional Memorial for ‘60 Minutes’ Legend Mike Wallace|Lloyd Grove|May 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Still, expectations are high, given that the series is based on a work by one of the most deified literary figures of our time.
The Next Twin Peaks?|Jace Lacob|July 8, 2010|DAILY BEAST
No writer, no matter how extraordinary nor how fervently deified, should be left untouched, collecting dust on her pedestal.
Emily Dickinson's Racy Side|Donna Seaman|March 1, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Her baby, when born, is exposed as being illegitimate, but found by a goatherd and brought up—becoming the all but deified Atys.
Ancient Faiths And Modern|Thomas Inman
We shall refer first to the simpler symbols, those in which an object was deified because of its form.
The Sex Worship and Symbolism of Primitive Races|Sanger Brown, II
One important kind of symbolism had to do with the form of the object deified.
The Sex Worship and Symbolism of Primitive Races|Sanger Brown, II
Generally speaking, it was the “vegetation spirit” existing throughout nature which was deified.
The Sex Worship and Symbolism of Primitive Races|Sanger Brown, II
The people were the masters of Rome, and they had chosen their Cæsar in the hero whom they had already deified.
"Unto Caesar"|Baroness Emmuska Orczy

British Dictionary definitions for deify

deify

/ (ˈdiːɪˌfaɪ, ˈdeɪɪ-) /

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)

to exalt to the position of a god or personify as a god

to accord divine honour or worship to

to exalt in an extreme way; idealize

Derived forms of deify

deifier, noun

Word Origin for deify

C14: from Old French deifier, from Late Latin deificāre, from Latin deus god + facere to make

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

deify

Origin of deify

OTHER WORDS FROM deify

Words related to deify

How to use deify in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for deify

Derived forms of deify

Word Origin for deify