deify
Americanverb
-
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
deifiernoun
-
hyperdeifyverb (used with object)
-
half-deifiedadjective
-
self-deifyingadjective
-
undeifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
deifysimple
-
deifiessimple
-
have deifiedperfect
-
has deifiedperfect
-
am deifyingprogressive
-
are deifyingprogressive
-
is deifyingprogressive
-
have been deifyingperfect progressive
-
has been deifyingperfect progressive
Past
-
deifiedsimple
-
had deifiedperfect
-
was deifyingprogressive
-
were deifyingprogressive
-
had been deifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deify
1300–50; Middle English deifien < Old French deifier < Late Latin deificāre. See deification, -ify
Explanation
When you deify someone, you're paying the highest compliment: you're treating them like a god. Maybe it's because people like to exaggerate, but we deify all the time. We deify the latest sports stars, singers, and actors. When politicians are popular, we deify them. Great writers and artists of the past — like Shakespeare and Picasso — are deified. Anytime we make someone seem so great, so powerful, so wonderful, and so amazing that it can't possibly be true, we're deifying them. Putting someone on a pedestal is something that we often do when we respect or love the person a lot.
Vocabulary lists containing deify
Power Suffix: -fy
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Mythology
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Between the World and Me
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
And this should prompt us to re-examine the very idea of role models in sports — and reel in our natural instincts to deify men.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 9, 2022
We build monuments and deify leaders in an effort to transcend our mortality.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 28, 2022
Why can’t Americans come to terms with our racist past without feeling compelled to demonize those we used to deify?
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2020
“It’s a celebration, but that doesn’t mean we sought to deify Elton or make him flawless or perfect,” Egerton added.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2019
Man’s subliminal urge to destroy what he could neither subdue nor deify.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
In a culture that deifies celebrities, Williams remains one whose memory is often invoked with affectionate nostalgia, accompanied by some of his better movie quotes, or from one of his stand-up sets.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2023
While Butler humanizes Elvis, Luhrmann deifies him and argues that he possessed far more radical potential, both musically and politically, than he was allowed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
Gebru said the way the tech industry is covered by the media, which to her deifies tech leaders, helps shield tech companies from scrutiny.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 15, 2021
“Some men she extols, exalts, and almost deifies; others, whose virtues are far greater, and whose characters are more deserving of commendation, she passes by unheeded, and puts the finger of silence on her lips.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 16, 2020
At once his more or less vague, cloudy, incoherent, formless feelings and purposes are concentrated, directed, and fixed in devotion to a young woman whom he idealizes, almost deifies.
From The Social Emergency Studies in Sex Hygiene and Morals by William Trufant Foster
But homeownership should be neither deified as a moral imperative nor presented as a sure-thing investment opportunity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
His manager deified his name, claiming he had just unleashed one of the greatest bullpen performances in baseball history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
The themes of performances at Mr Gopalakrishnan's house include honouring a deified ancestor, venerating a warrior-hunter deity, and worshipping tiger spirits symbolising strength and protection.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024
There was even a time when even George W. Bush was practically deified.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2024
Quirinus was the name of the deified Romulus, the founder of Rome.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
It is certainly true that at some point we, as a culture, must stop deifying people whose work, message or backstory we admire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
“They are not perfect. They are not perfect. We have to stop deifying them,” Mr. Lemon said.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 9, 2020
It acts as a deifying diptych to that of The Epic – from space to the earthly pursuit of heaven.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 21, 2019
One is a pitch-dark, but also visually cute, animated series that has perfected, by not deifying or lauding, the antihero, who this season was even more explicitly shown to be a #MeToo creep.
From Slate ● Dec. 15, 2018
Why this mania for deifying a man whose principal merit consisted in talking nonsense about things whose names, even, he did not know, in the strongest language ever put upon paper?
From What is Property? by P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph) Proudhon
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.
