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:
As in Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic theater and novels, Tarr’s movies, by turns funny and heartbreaking, dignify human struggle with an uncommon tenacity of vision and empathy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026
Ms. Nuzzi will not dignify efforts to impugn her character with any future response,” Nuzzi’s lawyer Ari Wilkenfeld said in a statement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said of Trump's comments: "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
I would not dignify that question with a reply.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
The precious metal, emphasizing the breaks and flaws, dignifies age, usefulness and mortality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
“Honey and Clover” dignifies the clumsy missteps of young adulthood in a way that teens will appreciate, because if rejection and failure have to be a part of life, might as well romanticize it, right?
From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2023
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
True love ennobles and dignifies the material labors of life; and homely services rendered for love’s sake have in them a poetry that is immortal.
From Household Papers and Stories by Harriet Beecher Stowe
“They’re a lifeline for working Americans who may not otherwise have a dignified retirement.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"This marks a new chapter in the fight to build a dignified future for all Venezuelans," the opposition negotiator said in her statement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
President Trump on Wednesday attended the dignified transfer of four U.S. servicemembers recently killed in the Middle East during the Iran war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
"They don't believe that safe, dignified burials could really help," says Dr Babou Rukengeza from the charity Save The Children.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
The dignified theater with velvet curtains is now a massive holding cell for German prisoners.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
“It mattered a lot to me that this was done in the most dignifying way possible,” Sipili, 44, said.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
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
Dunmore evidently didn't think that worth dignifying with an answer.
From Murder in the Gunroom by H. Beam Piper
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.
