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 /

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

While top market-makers regularly funnel hundreds of millions or billions of dollars a month through prediction markets, Alcedine has almost no public profile.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

My new Bumble profile includes the prompt, “Describe your perfect date.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

"Just by extracting a DNA profile is not enough to identify someone," Thapa said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

The study found that audience feedback on the event was "overwhelmingly positive", while media and digital coverage helped to amplify Manchester's profile on a global stage.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

They did not quite fit the profile of college-educated recruits who became part of Hoover’s mythology.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

The squad is brimming with international talent, many of whose profiles and personal sponsorship agreements benefit from plying their trade in the Premier League.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

With the help of artificial intelligence, Etsy has built more precise profiles on over 70% of its shoppers, with plans to map the rest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

When coffee drinkers stopped drinking coffee, researchers observed substantial shifts in their gut metabolite profiles compared with people who did not normally consume coffee.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

Along those lines, “Oprah” raised the profiles of many figures, including life-fixer Iyanla Vanzant and interior designer Nate Berkus, who reframed homekeeping as house pride.

From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026

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

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Evernote, a note-taking app acquired in 2023, was among the holdings Bending Spoons profiled in its IPO prospectus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

“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

Looking at England's equaliser in the Euro 2024 final, the ability of individual players - profiled properly - to come up with solutions was clear.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 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

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

One bill, dubbed the “No Kings Act,” makes it easier for residents to sue federal agents for alleged civil rights violations, such as racial profiling, unlawful searches or interfering with the right to free speech.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

Researchers plan to combine detailed cognitive testing with brain imaging, blood biomarkers, genetics, neuropathology, immune profiling, sleep and activity monitoring, social and environmental measurements, and other indicators of whole-person health.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

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

The National Security Agency also developed a behavioral profiling program, SKYNET, to identify Al Qaeda couriers in Afghanistan.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

He thought my idea of profiling a new recruit, following him all the way through, was a good one.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

Related Words

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