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:
Islamic fasting is oriented toward submission to divine will, while Christian penance is animated by gratitude for the incarnate God who suffered, died and rose again for the salvation of humanity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
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
And still more: that this new German religion was embodied and made incarnate in the person of its leader.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Santos incarnates its venal and ridiculous side, the part rooted in reality TV and get-rich-quick schemes.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
Ray Fisher incarnates, with natural majesty, the brawn and bravado of Muhammad Ali; Edwin Lee Gibson shambles and stammers as Stepin Fetchit while retaining the dignity of a canny survivor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
“He incarnates this figure of authority,” Gilles Holder, a Mali expert at the CNRS, told the New York Times.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 16, 2022
Gabriel Attal, the government spokesman, told Europe 1 radio that Ms. Baker was a “magnificent symbol who incarnates the love for France that can also come from people who are not born here.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2021
Is there a single figure in the fresco representing the “Triumph of St. Thomas” which incarnates the idea it symbolises, which, without its labelling instrument, would convey any meaning whatever?
From The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance With An Index To Their Works by Berenson, Bernard
“Robert Badinter never ceased to advocate the Enlightenment,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media, hailing him as a “figure of the century” who incarnated the “French spirit.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 9, 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
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
He was street nobility incarnated in someone who still believed in dreams.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
The counselors known as Jerry, who serve as vessels through which the universe expresses itself and guide new souls through the process of incarnating on Earth, are illustrated in the film as two-dimensional line figures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2020
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
As Thorpe, his face lupine and jowly, his cheeks hollowed, Mr. Grant undergoes a remarkable transformation, incarnating a man addicted to danger and entirely certain that others will help him evade the consequences.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2018
The first softens as it goes, incarnating Jesus’ earthly despair:
From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2016
The rulers of the State are subordinate to the State itself; they stand between the State and the great animating principles of wisdom, justice, and concord, incarnating the one, and receiving inspiration from the others.
From Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Third series by Symonds, John Addington
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.
