personify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to attribute human nature or character to (an inanimate object or an abstraction), as in speech or writing.
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to represent (a thing or abstraction) in the form of a person, as in art.
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to embody (a quality, idea, etc.) in a real person or a concrete thing.
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to be an embodiment or incarnation of; typify.
He personifies the ruthless ambition of some executives.
The vicar's wife was grace and beauty personified.
- Synonyms:
- incorporate, exemplify, represent
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to personate.
verb
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to attribute human characteristics to (a thing or abstraction)
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to represent (an abstract quality) in human or animal form
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(of a person or thing) to represent (an abstract quality), as in art or literature
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to be the embodiment of
Other Word Forms
- personifiable adjective
- personifiant adjective
- personifier noun
- unpersonifying adjective
Etymology
Origin of personify
First recorded in 1720–30; person + -ify; compare French personnifier, Italian personificare
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.
Or do these émigrés personify a loss of faith in America’s future and way of life?
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Shows like Auction Hunters, Storage Hunters, and Storage Wars began to personify the old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”—except with objects of value, monetary or sentimental, on the line.
From Slate • Aug. 5, 2024
Those who seek to govern us seek too to attempt to personify – however imperfectly – the country they seek to lead.
From BBC • May 28, 2024
Some early depictions show voladores dressed as birds, perhaps to personify gods.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2023
To a greater or lesser degree, most members of the reporting team performed similar feats of tedious investigation before finding characters who would personify the statistical trends.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
