dignify
Americanverb (used with object)
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dignifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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dignified,
past participle, past
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dignifying
present participle
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to confer honor or dignity upon; honor; ennoble.
-
to give a high-sounding title or name to; confer unmerited distinction upon.
to dignify pedantry by calling it scholarship.
verb
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to invest with honour or dignity; ennoble
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to add distinction to
the meeting was dignified by the minister
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to add a semblance of dignity to, esp by the use of a pretentious name or title
she dignifies every plant with its Latin name
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dignifysimple
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dignifiessimple
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have dignifiedperfect
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has dignifiedperfect
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am dignifyingprogressive
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are dignifyingprogressive
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is dignifyingprogressive
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have been dignifyingperfect progressive
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has been dignifyingperfect progressive
Past
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dignifiedsimple
-
had dignifiedperfect
-
was dignifyingprogressive
-
were dignifyingprogressive
-
had been dignifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dignify
1375–1425; late Middle English dignifien < Old French dignefier < Medieval Latin dignificāre, equivalent to Latin dign ( us ) worthy + -ificāre -ify
Explanation
To dignify is to grant nobility or respect to something. Dignifying raises the status of things. Dignity is a quality of honor and respect, so to dignify is to give greater respect and honor to something or someone. The presence of the President would dignify a military ceremony. Medals are given to dignify soldiers. Treating people with respect and taking them seriously dignifies them. Often, this word is used in a negative sense, as in "I wouldn't dignify him with an answer!" That means the speaker doesn't feel the person asking the question deserves respect.
Vocabulary lists containing dignify
The Cay
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Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
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Heat
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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:
Monarchical trappings dignified Napoleon Bonaparte’s power grab and still dignify the Inauguration Days of American presidents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
A spokesperson for Khan told the BBC: "We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response."
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2025
New York Rep. Mike Lawler said Greene’s belief “doesn’t dignify a response,” while Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon observed that “I think enough has already been said. I ignore her.”
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2024
He said it was important to attract migrants to Portugal to help solve its demographic challenges, saying the "door shouldn't be wide open nor locked," adding: "It is necessary to regulate and dignify."
From Reuters ● Nov. 25, 2023
Without some capacity for it I could not have qualified as a Mobile, and I received formal training in it on Hain, where they dignify it with the title of Farfetching.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Your marches are full of empty promises and until you take action that dignifies and respects Black women, I have no choice but to ignore you.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2020
Heat, however, neither disguises nor dignifies their narcissism of small differences.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2019
In the prosecutorial worldview, a criminal investigation dignifies victims by treating their deaths as crimes instead of sad inevitabilities.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2018
I am so grateful that New York state dignifies immigrants to offer them Medicaid.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 30, 2017
The speeches in which Mr. Gladstone's Budgets were expounded, especially those of 1860 and 1861, are superb specimens of the eloquence which increases, while it dignifies, the force of reason.
From Letters of Lord Acton To Mary, Daughter of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron Acton
Myanmar this month pledged "safe and dignified" returns for its citizens displaced abroad.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
These aptly named helpers are dignified, reverent and attentive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"I want to give my son a dignified burial. I am deeply pained."
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Serving as a means for others to learn about El Salvador and ensuring that representation is dignified is one of my greatest responsibilities.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The dignified French museum was about to be reduced to the status of a laughingstock.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
In Ostlund’s biting comedy, de Leon embraced the task of dignifying a character who essentially represents the millions of Filipinos working abroad to support their families back home.
From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2022
Little wonder his photographs of ordinary people on Lagos Island have won plaudits for their warmth and the dignifying eye of his camera.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2022
Educated hope provides the basis for dignifying the labor of teachers.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2022
Asked for comment on Sunday evening regarding the altercation, John LaBombard, a spokesman for Sinema, told The Washington Post: “We are not dignifying this behavior with a response.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 5, 2021
It is the noblest possession of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate in the general good-will; dignifying every station, and exalting every position in society.
From How to Get on in the World A Ladder to Practical Success by Major A.R. Calhoon
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.
