incarnate
Americanadjective
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embodied in flesh; given a bodily, especially a human, form.
a devil incarnate.
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personified or typified, as a quality or idea.
chivalry incarnate.
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flesh-colored or crimson.
verb (used with object)
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to put into or represent in a concrete form, as an idea.
The building incarnates the architect's latest theories.
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to be the embodiment or type of.
Her latest book incarnates the literature of our day.
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to embody in flesh; invest with a bodily, especially a human, form.
a man who incarnated wisdom and compassion.
adjective
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possessing bodily form, esp the human form
a devil incarnate
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personified or typified
stupidity incarnate
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(esp of plant parts) flesh-coloured or pink
verb
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to give a bodily or concrete form to
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to be representative or typical of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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incarnatesimple
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incarnatessimple
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have incarnatedperfect
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has incarnatedperfect
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am incarnatingprogressive
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are incarnatingprogressive
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is incarnatingprogressive
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have been incarnatingperfect progressive
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has been incarnatingperfect progressive
Past
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incarnatedsimple
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had incarnatedperfect
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was incarnatingprogressive
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were incarnatingprogressive
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had been incarnatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of incarnate
First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English, from Late Latin incarnātus, past participle of incarnāre “to make into flesh,” equivalent to in- “in” + carn- “flesh” + -ātus past participle suffix; see in- 2, carnal, -ate 1
Explanation
Incarnate means “having a bodily form.” If you encounter someone who pulls off butterflies’ wings for fun, you might describe that person as “evil incarnate.” The meaning of incarnate is precisely what its Latin roots suggest. The prefix in- means “in” and caro means “flesh,” so incarnate means “in the flesh.” The word can be used in positive or negative situations, but it always describes an unusual, possibly miraculous instance in which something that can’t normally be seen or touched assumes a bodily form. For example, the Christian religion was founded on the belief that Jesus was God incarnate.
Vocabulary lists containing incarnate
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Death of a Salesman
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Words from Shakespearean Insults
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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:
Here, in effect, stood American corporations incarnate: massive, spectacular, inventive, prosperous, self-confident.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025
The former cop and Secret Service agent spent nearly a decade losing three congressional races in two different states before settling into a groove as steroids incarnate with a microphone.
From Slate ● Mar. 1, 2025
Rep. Matt Gaetz said, “Mr. Weiss was here incarnate, but not particularly in spirit.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 7, 2023
Afterwards Kolisi, the Springboks' skipper and spirit incarnate, spoke about distinctive mood music that accompanies his team's matches.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2023
Like Giordano Bruno, he did not believe that Jesus Christ was God incarnate and he suffered the same fate as Bruno for his beliefs, but at different hands.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Santos incarnates its venal and ridiculous side, the part rooted in reality TV and get-rich-quick schemes.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
Bo Mason incarnates a mythical — or, more exactly, a myth-mongering — type of Westerner that Stegner often blamed for the region’s troubles.
From New York Times ● Jun. 1, 2020
He incarnates a void and makes it impossible to look away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2018
If a stentorian voice once prevailed on public radio, the model of the host that Glass incarnates, and that Brian Reed embodies on “S-Town”—a sensitive, hesitating, transparently liberal male—has become equally ubiquitous today.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 12, 2018
Art is never democratic, but it is all the stronger when it incarnates the woes and joys of the people—not quite the same thing as being composed by the "people."
From Ivory Apes and Peacocks by Huneker, James
Erivo, a musical theater divinity, incarnated Elphaba from the inside out while delivering the power ballads with as much feeling as vocal majesty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2024
Bernard Hill, a British actor who incarnated a humble style of masculine leadership in three hugely successful Hollywood movies, “Titanic” and two films in the “Lord of the Rings” franchise, died on Sunday.
From New York Times ● May 5, 2024
Many people dislike her decisions, but there has been little organized protest—no one I spoke to could name a politician who incarnated the opposition.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2023
The Stoic god is a material entity who exists in nature and meticulously manages it, the material first cause of the universe, Aristotle’s unmoved mover incarnated as a material entity.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
When he entered a tournament, dressed in a khaki shirt and pants and dark tie and displaying that mustache, it was as if a doppelgänger of Der Fuehrer had been incarnated.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
That’s enough genius for any writer, but Williams goes further by offering actors the opportunity of incarnating his interior poetry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2024
Lush but delicate, expensive but incarnating the abundance of nature, anatomically and scientifically intricate but making no special demands of the viewer, the orchid makes a free gift of its sheer, pleasurable beauty.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023
Which are different, but not dissimilar ways of incarnating a better, kinder world and more authentic relationships.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 27, 2019
The first softens as it goes, incarnating Jesus’ earthly despair:
From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2016
For mythopœia is just this, the incarnating the spirit of natural fact; and the generic name of that power is Art.
From Great Pictures, As Seen and Described by Famous Writers by Singleton, Esther
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.
