lionize
verb (used with object)
to treat (a person) as a celebrity.
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.
As Greenspan left office in 2005, Greenspan was lionized as the “maestro,” or the greatest central banker of the century.
From MarketWatch ● May 10, 2026
Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, murdered by the SS before he could be freed by Allied troops, is lionized in American churches, and his letters from prison became standard reading in Bible studies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Francis merely urged everyone to read up on their Gospels, where Jesus consistently assailed the rich, lionized the poor and lingered with the meek instead of the mighty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2025
The park, named by the late West Seattle philanthropist and park commissioner Ferdinand Schmitz for a precolonial Native American leader lionized by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, has hardly been static.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
In his first days at home, Elisha found himself lionized in the papers as an American superhero, and in a serious fight with his family.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
