portrayal

[ pawr-trey-uhl, pohr- ]

noun

1. the act of portraying.
2. a portrait.

Other Words From

• mispor·trayal noun
• nonpor·trayal noun
• prepor·trayal noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of portrayal¹

First recorded in 1840–50; portray + -al ²

Example Sentences

Other stories, such as “Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain,” further illustrate Evans’s considerable range, particularly for original, affecting portrayals of grief and intimacy.

From Washington Post

As it turns out, the portrayal is accurate — and part of the reason for Bowden’s generosity was that he nearly took the coaching job at Marshall, and very well might have been on that plane.

From FiveThirtyEight

Since the tweets contest the normative portrayals of same-sex relations, they also constitute activist representations.

From No Straight News

That contradicts its fans portrayal of Big Tech as a matchless growth machine.

From Fortune

She was loved by her legions of fans for her indelible portrayal of Princess Leia in the “Stars Wars” franchise and other performances — from Marie in “When Harry Met Sally,” to her cameo in a “Sex and the City” episode.

From Washington Blade

In 1987, The Deer Hunter was hailed at the Moscow Film Festival as an important portrayal of the horrors of war.

From The Daily Beast

But everything about the Hughes-Eldridge pairing militated against such a portrayal.

From The Daily Beast

The police themselves do little to dispel or discourage this lionized portrayal.

From The Daily Beast

The novel is a near perfect portrayal of the emotions of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood.

From The Daily Beast

Others have found its portrayal of Southern life offensive, exploitative, or inaccurate.

From The Daily Beast

Liszt, from whose book some of the above details are derived, completes his portrayal of Chopin by some characteristic touches.

From Project Gutenberg

The most complete literary portrayal of George Sand that has been handed down to us, however, is by Heine.

From Project Gutenberg

I know I have given a rose-colored account of him, yet some shadow belongs to the portrayal.

From Project Gutenberg

The other characters are all well drawn, and the play is an excellent portrayal of domestic life of seventy-five years ago.

From Project Gutenberg

It gave Mark Twain a chance to exercise two of his chief gifts—transcription and portrayal.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• description
• imitation
• portrait
• representation