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.
Bardot starred in nearly 50 films including And God Created Woman and Contempt, setting fashion trends with her tousled blonde hair and bold eyeliner, before becoming the model for Marianne, the personified symbol of France.
From BBC
In 1969, Bardot came to embody the nation itself after President Charles de Gaulle chose her as a new model for Marianne: a mythical figure that has personified the French Republic since the revolution.
There’s an obvious objection to all this: It sounds as if we’re naively personifying a giant math problem, mistaking statistical patterns for sentience—falling for the oldest anthropomorphic error in the book.
And yet, for some reason, it is the band’s rhythm guitarist who personifies immortality.
The late P-22 — a celebrity mountain lion that inhabited Griffith Park – personified the tribulations facing his kind.
From Los Angeles 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.
