portrayal
AmericanOther Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of portrayal
Explanation
If you like the way an actor played the role of Abraham Lincoln, you might praise his portrayal of the sixteenth president. Use the noun portrayal to describe the representation of someone, either in the form of a dramatic character, a spoken description, or even a photograph or painting of the person. You can also talk about the portrayal of an object or idea: "Dorothea Lange's photographs are an accurate portrayal of the Great Depression." The Old French word portraire, "to draw or trace," is the root of portrayal.
Vocabulary lists containing portrayal
Academy Awards, List 6
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Between Shades of Gray
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The Unmapped Sea
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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:
Port Talbot-born Creevy appeared in Netflix series Black Doves and The Guest as well as award-winning drama In My Skin, for which she won Bafta Cymru best actress for her portrayal of teenage protagonist Bethany.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
El Mansouri has rejected her portrayal as an "iron woman", telling Pam's magazine in 2021: "I am neither a woman of steel nor iron... I am a free activist."
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
This is an emphatically reptilian portrayal of a TV personality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Seehorn won lead actress in a drama series for her portrayal of the lonesome Carol Sturka in Apple TV’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama from Vince Gilligan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Set in a poverty- and drug-stricken African-American fishing community in the South, Porgy and Bess was notable for its sympathetic but clear-eyed portrayal of underclass life.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Adds Miyashita: "These puzzles beckon our curiosity. After all, spiral forms in nature have inspired human creations ranging from rotini pasta, to a barber's pole or even portrayals of the biblical 'Tower of Babel'."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
Notably, the show didn’t hook viewers with sex or other salacious material but, rather, plausible portrayals of greed and motivating vindictiveness.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Some of these portrayals are more successful than others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Inspired by Hans Holbein, this portrait of the English novelist and his artist partner was one of the first celebratory portrayals of a gay couple.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Fortunately, today’s scientists, historians, and art collectors have rediscovered and acknowledged her work for what it is: amazingly beautiful, accurate portrayals of insect metamorphoses and ecosystems.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
