lionize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to treat (a person) as a celebrity.
to lionize the visiting poet.
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British. to visit or exhibit the objects of interest of (a place).
verb (used without object)
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to pursue celebrities or seek their company.
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British. to visit the objects of interest of a place.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lionize
First recorded in 1800–10; lion + -ize ( def. )
Explanation
The lion is often portrayed as the noble king of beasts. As such, to lionize someone is to characterize them as being highly important and distinguished, like a great and honorable leader. In literature and art, the lion is often used as a symbol of pride, strength, courage, and nobility. So when you lionize someone, you attribute to them all those impressive traits. Sports stars and political leaders are often lionized by their supporters. Some people are uncomfortable with being lionized. After rescuing a puppy from a frozen pond, the local teenager who did the good deed might resist people's efforts to lionize him, saying, "I'm no hero! I only did what anybody else would do!"
Vocabulary lists containing lionize
100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "K" "L""M" and "N" and "O"
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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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:
It's nice for people to support you, don't get me wrong, but we can't lionize people being in prison.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2024
There’s also a whole bit in the courtroom of David swatting at a fly as his attorney attempts to lionize him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
They like the stories that either demonize or lionize these people.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2023
Teams are insular, us-against-the-world micro-communities, and American culture tends to lionize those who close off the rest of the world, ignore criticism and win anyway.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 12, 2023
The worst of Gordon was that he made it next to impossible for one to lionize him.
From Van Bibber and Others by Davis, Richard Harding
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
MacArthur Park is L.A.’s Gloria Swanson — a place long lionized as a former jewel supposedly ruined by waves of newcomers and apathetic politicians.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 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
The alleged villains in the trial are former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch, who once was lionized as shining example of British ingenuity, and Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president of finance.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 17, 2024
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
But much more often, it’s simply a necessity — one that’s erased when lionizing the chill moms and the wild summers.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
A closer listen shows she isn’t lionizing 18th Street or Florencia 13.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025
Stop lionizing him and his ilk, and instead cover people who are responding productively.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2022
Already she’s spent many episodes analyzing, and lionizing, the show’s newest cast member.
From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2021
I remember, when I was an undergraduate, lionizing some Yorkshire damsels on their first visit to Oxford, then in the "high midsummer pomps" of its beauty.
From Fifteen Chapters of Autobiography by Russell, George William Erskine
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.
