embody
Americanverb (used with object)
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embodies,
present (3rd person singular)
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embodied,
past participle, past
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embodying
present participle
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to give a concrete form to; express, personify, or exemplify in concrete form.
to embody an idea in an allegorical painting.
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to provide with a body incarnate; make corporeal.
to embody a spirit.
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to collect into or include in a body; organize; incorporate.
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to embrace or comprise.
verb
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to give a tangible, bodily, or concrete form to (an abstract concept)
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to be an example of or express (an idea, principle, etc), esp in action
his gentleness embodies a Christian ideal
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(often foll by in) to collect or unite in a comprehensive whole, system, etc; comprise; include
all the different essays were embodied in one long article
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to invest (a spiritual entity) with a body or with bodily form; render incarnate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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embodysimple
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embodiessimple
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have embodiedperfect
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has embodiedperfect
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am embodyingprogressive
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are embodyingprogressive
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is embodyingprogressive
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have been embodyingperfect progressive
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has been embodyingperfect progressive
Past
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embodiedsimple
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had embodiedperfect
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was embodyingprogressive
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were embodyingprogressive
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had been embodyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of embody
Explanation
To embody a role is to fill it completely. If a high schooler seems to embody the character of Macbeth, his performance might make the audience forget they're watching a dorky 15-year-old with braces. If you embody someone, you put him or her "in-body," as when an actor gives a complete and compelling representation of a character. You can also use embody to describe character traits you see in a person, like, “He embodies truth,” or, “She is the embodiment of goodness.”
Vocabulary lists containing embody
100 SAT Words Beginning with "E"
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Vocabulary from "Stop Expecting Games to Build Empathy" by Julie Muncy
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Content Summary G.2: Regionalization
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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:
We spoke with four creatives who are reimagining what it means to not only collect Japanese fashion in L.A., but to truly embody its unique spirit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
However difficult and imperfect at times, those 35 years embody the hope that nations can achieve independence and justice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Maresca's City also embody these principles, evident by their 64% possession in their first game against Inter Milan.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The Constitution is a “liberty document,” and he was responding to a view of the Constitution that saw it as written by powerful men to embody a theory of power and mastery.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
The result is a people, black people, who embody all physical varieties and whose life stories mirror this physical range.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
With 20 works in the Lucas Museum’s collection, Los Angeles artist Kadir Nelson embodies the overlap between popular visual culture and fine art.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Yet she argues that Kander’s work embodies not the melting pot but “culinary pluralism.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Flock Safety embodies the dishonesty that has been the prevailing theme of tech corporate communications and marketing for at least the past decade.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
“This extraordinary residence represents the culmination of that passion: a Napa-inspired estate that embodies everything she loved most about residential design,” the listing goes on.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
True concluded triumphantly, “God or man, he embodies all the radiant energy of the adolescence of western art.”
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Faraday Future says it has a leg up on the competition in the world of embodied AI because its bots are ready for delivery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Wallace, a New Yorker, was Shakur's big rival and the two rappers embodied the East Coast - West Coast feud that dominated 1990s hip-hop.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
But as the Lord of Darkness, the massively built ruler of the underworld in Ridley Scott’s underappreciated fantasy, Curry embodied a paradox.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
His own laboratory has begun exploring this direction by drawing on ideas from embodied cognition and ecological psychology.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
The tutor later wrote, “I have never yet found an answer to the argument embodied in that question.”
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Exercises often pushed students into strange scenarios or premises: embodying an object, exploring a feeling or inhabiting a logic to find more instinctive, present performances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
May his name resonate through the ages as embodying the promise and tragedy of the American dream.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
And he put his own political brand - steady, competent and embodying the highest moral standards - front and centre.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
There can be value in embodying machismo on-screen, if it’s done right.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
It became a kind of secret code embodying their ambitions.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
