magnify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
magnifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
magnified,
past participle, past
-
magnifying
present participle
-
to increase the apparent size of, as a lens does.
- Antonyms:
- reduce
-
to make greater in actual size; enlarge.
to magnify a drawing in preparing for a fresco.
- Antonyms:
- reduce
-
to cause to seem greater or more important; attribute too much importance to; exaggerate.
to magnify one's difficulties.
- Synonyms:
- overstate
- Antonyms:
- minimize
-
to make more exciting; intensify; dramatize; heighten.
The playwright magnified the conflict to get her point across.
-
Archaic. to extol; praise.
to magnify the Lord.
verb (used without object)
-
magnifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
magnified,
past participle, past
-
magnifying
present participle
verb
-
to increase, cause to increase, or be increased in apparent size, as through the action of a lens, microscope, etc
-
to exaggerate or become exaggerated in importance
don't magnify your troubles
-
rare (tr) to increase in actual size
-
archaic (tr) to glorify
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
overmagnifyverb (used with object)
-
remagnifyverb (used with object)
-
magnifiableadjective
-
unmagnifiedadjective
-
unmagnifyingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
magnifysimple
-
magnifiessimple
-
have magnifiedperfect
-
has magnifiedperfect
-
am magnifyingprogressive
-
are magnifyingprogressive
-
is magnifyingprogressive
-
have been magnifyingperfect progressive
-
has been magnifyingperfect progressive
Past
-
magnifiedsimple
-
had magnifiedperfect
-
was magnifyingprogressive
-
were magnifyingprogressive
-
had been magnifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of magnify
1350–1400; Middle English magnifien < Latin magnificāre. See magni-, -fy
Explanation
To magnify is to make something bigger, whether in size or in significance. A magnifying glass makes things look bigger and when anything is magnified, it gets larger in some way. If your hunger is magnified, you've gotten hungrier. Wearing a heavy coat on a hot day will magnify the heat: you're feeling hotter and hotter. Also, non-physical things get magnified. The press could magnify a story by discussing it over and over, making it a bigger story than it was originally. All types of magnifying make things bigger.
Vocabulary lists containing magnify
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That's Great!: Magn
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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:
The researchers say dietary sugar may magnify the microbiome disruption caused by antibiotics because potentially harmful bacteria that survive treatment may be able to use those sugars to expand.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
And with so much hinging on the AI put, any loss of confidence could quickly collide with an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, helping magnify losses across markets.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
"There is nothing that blood testing can do that would magically take those worries away - it would only potentially magnify them," Jones said.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Nvidia’s financing and supply-chain moves might help it grow faster now, but magnify its risk longer term.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
The spectacles have good lenses that magnify things: when I try them on, even French words look large and easy to read.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Leverage works great when asset prices rise, but concentrating a large share of your wealth in a single, illiquid, undiversified asset also magnifies downside risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
In these events, the gravity of a foreground star and any accompanying planets magnifies the light of a more distant background star, briefly making it appear brighter.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 1, 2026
Borrowed money magnifies returns when share prices are rising as smaller investors are able to gain far more exposure to the upside, but when share prices fall that leverage exacerbates losses.
From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026
The prospect of fame magnifies pathologies that have been intensifying over time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
Some of them were very tall; many were dressed in white; and all had a sweeping amplitude of array that seemed to magnify their persons as a mist magnifies the moon.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
The sheer joy of watching Stewart’s comic turns in shows like “Extras” or hearing his voice in ludicrous contexts was magnified by the majesty he lent to his dramatic work.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
While this weather system is not expected to be as severe as Storm Boelo, its impacts could be magnified coming so soon after the previous storm.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Dressed in a camouflage bomber jacket, his eyes continued to linger on the magnified view of the downtown skyline as he spoke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Conversely, declines in valuations of mortgage-backed securities are magnified when interest rates are rising.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
A clean-shaven man, he looked exactly like a magnified version of Ronny.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Now she fears the rise of AI models is magnifying the damage on other young people.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
You can tap the speech bubble icon to type a question, or the magnifying glass to search for the object on Google and other platforms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
When you look at films like that under a magnifying glass, they tend to fall apart.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
But on the edge of town, engineers peer through giant magnifying glasses while robotic arms manipulate sheets of copper to develop components used in some of the world's most advanced AI systems.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
I sighed and put down my magnifying glass.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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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.
