profile

American  

[proh-fahyl] / ˈproʊ faɪl /

noun

• profiles
  plural

1. the outline or contour of the human face, especially the face viewed from one side.

   Synonyms:

   silhouette

2. a picture or representation of the side view of a head.

3. an outlined view, as of a city or mountain.

4. an outline of an object, as a molding, formed on a vertical plane passed through the object at right angles to one of its principal horizontal dimensions.

5. a drawing or the like representing this.

6. Surveying. a vertical section of the ground surface taken parallel to a survey line.

7. a verbal, arithmetical, or graphic summary or analysis of the history, status, etc., of a process, activity, relationship, or set of characteristics.

   a biochemical profile of a patient's blood;

   a profile of national consumer spending.

8. an informal biography or a concisely presented sketch of the life and character of a person.

9. Digital Technology. the personal details, images, user statistics, social media timeline, etc., that an individual creates and associates with a username or online account.

10. a set of characteristics or qualities that identify a type or category of person or thing.

    a profile of a typical allergy sufferer.

11. the look, configuration, or lines of something.

    cars with a modern profile.

12. degree of noticeability; visibility.

13. Psychology. a description of behavioral and personality traits of a person compared with accepted norms or standards.

14. Theater. a flat stage property or scenic piece cut from a firm, thin material, as of beaverboard or plywood, and having an irregular edge resembling the silhouette of a natural object.

15. (in a gear) the outline of either end of a tooth.

16. Naval Architecture. a longitudinal elevation or section of a vessel.

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verb (used with object)

• profiles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• profiled,
  past participle,  past
• profiling
  present participle

1. to draw a profile of.

2. to produce or present a history, description, or analysis of.

   The magazine will profile the candidate in its next issue.

profile British  

/ ˈprəʊfaɪl, ˈprəʊfɪlɪst /

noun

1. a side view, outline, or representation of an object, esp of a human face or head

2. a view or representation of an object, esp a building, in contour or outline

3. a short biographical sketch of a subject

4. a graph, table, or list of scores representing the extent to which a person, field, or object exhibits various tested characteristics or tendencies

   a population profile

5. a vertical section of soil from the ground surface to the parent rock showing the different horizons

6. 1. a vertical section of part of the earth's crust showing the layers of rock

   2. a representation of such a section

7. the outline of the shape of a river valley either from source to mouth ( long profile ) or at right angles to the flow of the river ( cross profile )

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verb

1. to draw, write, or make a profile of

2. to cut out a shape from a blank (as of steel) with a cutter

profile Idioms  

1. see keep a low profile.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-profile
  noun
• profiler
  noun
• profilist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• profiles
  plural

Participles

• profiling
  present
• profiled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• profile
  simple
• profiles
  simple
• have profiled
  perfect
• has profiled
  perfect
• am profiling
  progressive
• are profiling
  progressive
• is profiling
  progressive
• have been profiling
  perfect progressive
• has been profiling
  perfect progressive

Past

• profiled
  simple
• had profiled
  perfect
• was profiling
  progressive
• were profiling
  progressive
• had been profiling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will profile
  simple
• will have profiled
  perfect
• will be profiling
  progressive
• will have been profiling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of profile

First recorded in 1650–60; (for the noun) from Italian prof(f)ilo, noun derivative of profilare “to delineate, outline,” from pro- pro- ¹ + -filare, derivative of filo “line, thread,” from Latin fīlum

Explanation

If a magazine editor asks you to write a profile of an up-and-coming novelist, she's asking you to write a biographical sketch, to give the readers a sense of the novelist as a person. Profile comes from the Italian profilo, the thin colored border of cloth that outlines a garment. It came to mean any kind of sketch or outline, especially of faces. If someone compliments your profile means you look nice from the side (try outlining from other angles). If you have a criminal profile, your criminal record creates a picture of an active life of crime. A profile is also a drawing of the earth in cross-section, showing layers of crust.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

profile profiles profiled profiling

"Luck Win Bookstore and Elmbook have always kept a very low profile," the bookseller says.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Shareholders will hope these developments might smooth out some of the cyclicality in Samsung’s earnings profile and maybe lead to better ratings.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Possibly for this reason, Vahidi kept a very low profile in the war, making his first public appearance during the funerals of Ali Khamenei in July.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Going back to her LinkedIn profile, she seemed “career focused, looking to grow as a person,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

I watched with the profoundest satisfaction as five days of grime ran down my legs and out the drainhole, and noticed with astonished gratitude that my body had taken on a noticeably svelter profile.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

"Pollen has been very useful in identifying different coatings where the molecular profiles were identical."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

Clear differences emerged when the researchers compared the cellular profiles of males and females.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

“That have complex flavor profiles, that are not just juice and a splash of soda or a lime or something.”

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

After engaging with the accounts' profiles and posts, the BBC was added to multiple channels and WhatsApp groups.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

There was one shopper who didn’t seem to fit the other three profiles.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

“I was in love with the frisson of transgression,” said Anna, one of the disillusioned former believers profiled in Sam Adler-Bell’s March 2026 investigation “The women leaving the new right.”

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

Charniak, 85, is one of several families profiled in the new book “Grandfamilies: Stories of Children and the Loving Relatives Who Raise Them.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026

Members of the Adolescents, the Vandals and Social Distortion are profiled about their wild contributions to punk rock in new book ‘Tearing Down the Orange Curtain,’ out May 20.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

Another, who's a Hollywood producer on the side, was recently profiled by Vanity Fair magazine.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

He gets invited on news shows and profiled in magazines, and he has been the subject of a documentary by the filmmaker Errol Morris, all because of a brain that appears to defy description.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

But activists say hundreds have been pushed across the border from Assam in recent months without due legal process, often based on ethnic profiling.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Single cell profiling also allowed them to track which genes were active, which regions of DNA became accessible, and how those changes evolved.

From Science Daily ● May 21, 2026

“It helps place the city of Los Angeles on a path of ending racial profiling by LAPD,” said Chauncee Smith, of Catalyst California, a group that advocates for racial justice.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

"Parents deserve independent confirmation that the moderation is sufficient, that help systems are effective, and that age checks aren't used for commercial profiling."

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026

Nearly all of the cases alleging racial profiling in drug-law enforcement were brought pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• analysis
• biography
• chart
• review
• sketch
• study
• survey