edify
Americanverb (used with object)
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edifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
edified,
past participle, past
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edifying
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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edifiernoun
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reedifyverb (used with object)
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edifyingadjective
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nonedifiedadjective
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unedifiedadjective
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edifyinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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edifysimple
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edifiessimple
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have edifiedperfect
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has edifiedperfect
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am edifyingprogressive
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are edifyingprogressive
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is edifyingprogressive
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have been edifyingperfect progressive
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has been edifyingperfect progressive
Past
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edifiedsimple
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had edifiedperfect
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was edifyingprogressive
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were edifyingprogressive
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had been edifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of edify
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English edifien, from Anglo-French, Old French edifier, from Latin aedificāre “to build,” equivalent to aedi- (stem of aedes ) “house, temple” + -ficāre -fy
Explanation
To edify is to help someone understand, whether it is books that edify those who want to learn a new language, or the explanations that hang beside paintings at a museum that edify visitors who aren't familiar with the artist. If you know that the noun edifice is a synonym for building, you may wonder what the related verb edify has to do with understanding. You can think of something that edifies as the building blocks of what might become a lifelong interest, like an elementary school teacher who edifies the student who becomes an Abraham Lincoln scholar, or an activity you eventually master, like the beginners' lessons that edify new ice skaters.
Vocabulary lists containing edify
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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:
An online audience can be as fickle as it is faithful, and what captures the most clicks doesn’t also always edify the human soul.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
But that’s partly why he’s there: to expand and edify their thinking, which he attempts to do gently and judiciously.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
Finding the least taxing way to activate your inner circle could gratify — and edify — all involved, and restore a sense of control over your own well-being.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 21, 2022
As our reviewer, Josh Lambert, observed, it celebrates, more broadly, “a traditional liberal faith in books themselves, and in their power to edify, soothe and unite people.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2021
Wilde's lectures must have amused if they did not edify America.
From Oscar Wilde A Critical Study by Arthur Ransome
If art no longer shocks, it seldom edifies.
From Time Magazine Archive
This is an album that edifies even as it enchants.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ken Loach's film, written by Rona Munro and based on a true story, horrifies and edifies in equal measure.
From Time Magazine Archive
To see them so surrendered to the obedience of the Catholic Church, and so fond of the churches that were soon built by the care and solicitude of Ours, edifies and consoles one.
Your Lordship has, indeed, told me that, when the alcalde-mayor is what he should be, he better edifies and preaches than any minister of religion whatever.
For over thirty years, Mr. Plaschke’s stories have edified the biggest stars in the Los Angeles sports world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2020
Whatever the two justices’ modest deficiencies in literary criticism, our contemporary public life would be edified by not only their jurisprudence but also their graces.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 20, 2020
We’d been there for several hours by then, had consumed our blueberries and granola bars, were edified and overstimulated and thinking about making our way home after a while.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 22, 2017
Listening to Serial, This American Life, Radiolab, WTF with Marc Maron, or 99% Invisible, we expect to come out the other end edified and enriched, in complex ways.
From Slate ● Dec. 14, 2014
Parsons, his attention caught by the trumpet call, sat listening with a sort of gaping solemnity, a sort of edified boredom.
From "1984" by George Orwell
For Jane Fleischer Reid, granddaughter of Betty Boop co-creator Max Fleischer and creator of Fabulous Fleischer Cartoons Restored, working with Buermann on Boop’s birthday party was “delightful” and edifying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
“Blow Out” tees up an astonishing setup and payoff, yet does so with a graceful simplicity that makes returning to the film edifying no matter how many times you’ve seen it.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026
All that matters in this moment is one of life's most edifying trivialities: snooker.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
Few things are less edifying than a mob that has decided to rectify a great wrong in the name of justice and purity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
“At the Villa Rossa. It was very edifying, baby. We all sang. Where have you been?”
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
