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
I know he wouldn’t have been lionized the way he is today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
But after the committee’s televised hearings were over, he was famous, demonized by some for the harshness of his attacks on Nixon but lionized as a hero by others.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2023
And though it's clear to anyone with an ounce of logic that they are a pack of charlatans, they're lionized throughout the Empire not just as immortal, but as oracles and mind-readers.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
