portray
Americanverb (used with object)
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portrays,
present (3rd person singular)
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portrayed,
past participle, past
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portraying
present participle
verb
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to represent in a painting, drawing, sculpture, etc; make a portrait of
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to make a verbal picture of; depict in words
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to play the part of (a character) in a play or film
Synonym Usage
See depict.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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portrayalnoun
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portrayernoun
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preportrayverb (used with object)
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nonportrayableadjective
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portrayableadjective
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unportrayableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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portraysimple
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portrayssimple
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have portrayedperfect
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has portrayedperfect
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am portrayingprogressive
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are portrayingprogressive
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is portrayingprogressive
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have been portrayingperfect progressive
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has been portrayingperfect progressive
Past
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portrayedsimple
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had portrayedperfect
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was portrayingprogressive
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were portrayingprogressive
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had been portrayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of portray
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English portrayen, from Middle French portraire, from Late Latin prōtrahere “to depict,” Latin: “to draw forth,” equivalent to prō- pro- 1 + trahere “to draw”
Explanation
When you paint a picture of someone, either in words or in paint, you portray them. Actors portray characters too. Whether you're talking about acting or another art form, the idea is the same: representing a person and bringing to light their most important qualities. To portray a person is to show who that person is, giving a sense of their personality or character. Often, famous people don't like how they're portrayed. For example, Presidents usually hate how they're portrayed in editorial cartoons. When you portray someone, you can be positive or negative, accurate or inaccurate. It's up to you.
Vocabulary lists containing portray
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Language of the Test, List 6
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 4
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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:
Barrett’s stories portray the practice of science, as one character puts it, “bent by loneliness and longing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Most crucial to the story, however, was finding a way to portray Bourdain’s struggles between the dark and light sides of the restaurant business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
He said he spent his childhood pulling the Spidey poses and shooting webs, and now being able to portray him is "the best feeling ever".
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
He is also an actor, and in both plays he evinces a natural affinity for creating complex characters that afford rich opportunities for the performers who portray them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
NOTE.—In a few instances pro- is changed into pur-, as purpose; into por-, as portray; and into pol-, as pollute.
From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton
He tracks them down, travels with them, portrays them in all their unusual specificity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Mr. James captures the actors’ sense of embattled defiance amid a Jamaica he portrays as increasingly unhinged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Tom Berenger plays a married Queens cop assigned to protect wealthy Manhattan murder witness Mimi Rogers, while a pre-”Sopranos” Lorraine Bracco portrays the wife he leaves waiting at home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
A film like “Maddie’s Secret” accurately portrays idolization and enabling with as much horror as it should.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
“The Raft of the Medusa” portrays victims of a shipwreck, adrift on the sea without food or water, at the moment they signal to a distant ship.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
He says a dystopian future like the one portrayed in the film is "frightening to think about" but "it's something we have to examine and remember, because we are on the cusp of these realities".
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
For Andrea’s 40th birthday earlier this year, I repaid the favor and requested a video for her from Nell Campbell, who portrayed Columbia, in which she talked about sisterhood — and “Rocky Horror,” of course.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
That has never been adequately portrayed in theatrical features.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Recent media reporting has portrayed varying perspectives on operational tempo, crew morale and the realities facing our deployed forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Charles was not all science by any means: He bathed the baby, kissed him, hugged him, walked him when he cried; he was anything but the stereotypical distant father so often portrayed in Victorian literature.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
Ben Jones, the actor best known for portraying trusty mechanic Cooter Davenport on “The Dukes of Hazzard” before serving two terms in Congress as a representative from Georgia, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Last week, Meta launched a new public-relations campaign centered on AI optimism, portraying itself as the company that supports AI for everyone—an implied contrast to competitors in the space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway lead the cast as Odysseus and Penelope, with Tom Holland portraying their son Telemachus.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
To Bateman, no amount of convincing mimicry changes the fact that an AI figure has never actually experienced the emotions it’s portraying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
And now, portraying a phantom—perhaps this might help me put some of my own ghosts to rest.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
