incarnate
Americanadjective
-
embodied in flesh; given a bodily, especially a human, form.
a devil incarnate.
-
personified or typified, as a quality or idea.
chivalry incarnate.
-
flesh-colored or crimson.
verb (used with object)
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incarnates,
present (3rd person singular)
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incarnated,
past participle, past
-
incarnating
present participle
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to put into or represent in a concrete form, as an idea.
The building incarnates the architect's latest theories.
-
to be the embodiment or type of.
Her latest book incarnates the literature of our day.
-
to embody in flesh; invest with a bodily, especially a human, form.
a man who incarnated wisdom and compassion.
adjective
-
possessing bodily form, esp the human form
a devil incarnate
-
personified or typified
stupidity incarnate
-
(esp of plant parts) flesh-coloured or pink
verb
-
to give a bodily or concrete form to
-
to be representative or typical of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
incarnatesimple
-
incarnatessimple
-
have incarnatedperfect
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has incarnatedperfect
-
am incarnatingprogressive
-
are incarnatingprogressive
-
is incarnatingprogressive
-
have been incarnatingperfect progressive
-
has been incarnatingperfect progressive
Past
-
incarnatedsimple
-
had incarnatedperfect
-
was incarnatingprogressive
-
were incarnatingprogressive
-
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
Cudn Hope laughed, but Papa looked like he’d just heard heresy incarnate.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Santos incarnates its venal and ridiculous side, the part rooted in reality TV and get-rich-quick schemes.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
Gawain, whom Patel inhabits even more assuredly than he did David Copperfield, himself incarnates that religio-cultural tension.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2021
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
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
To each every national thought and habit incarnates a patriotism which is in defiance of that on the other side of the frontier.
From My Year of the War Including an Account of Experiences with the Troops in France and the Record of a Visit to the Grand Fleet Which is Here Given for the First Time in its Complete Form by Frederick Palmer
"She truly incarnated the love and passion of Jesus for people here," she added.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
This change was made in the name of the one who incarnated the movement and its national revolution.
From Salon ● May 30, 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 weird sisters, incarnated in the mesmerizing, smoky-voiced performance art of Kathryn Hunter, seem as much a fact of the natural world as the crows circling the gunmetal sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 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
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
Aretha became a revolution by incarnating powerful ideas and desires that were sloshing around seeking a vessel strong enough to contain them.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 16, 2018
Scott Shepherd and Ari Fliakos take turns incarnating the brash, bumptious Mailer, whose offensive remarks rile the panelists and audience member to the point of near riot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2017
The first softens as it goes, incarnating Jesus’ earthly despair:
From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2016
A high soul, incarnating, must take many risks; and before it has found itself and tamed the new personality, may have sown griefs for itself to be reaped through many lives.
From The Crest-Wave of Evolution A Course of Lectures in History, Given to the Graduates' Class in the Raja-Yoga College, Point Loma, in the College-Year 1918-19 by Kenneth Morris
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
