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

According to a Politico profile of Lamb, he has also spoken in support of private militias.

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026

From early in Caoimhin Agyarko's career, the above was pinned to the top of his X account and while the profile is no more, the objective remains.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

A 1994 profile in The Times, from when Reilly was running Democrat Kathleen Brown’s bid for governor, described him as “one of the most powerful–and feared–political operatives in California.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Despite being well-known, he has kept a low profile and only rarely given interviews -- in contrast with many other Ukrainian commanders.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

He looked at her profile, his tongue clamped between his teeth.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

Ms. Thorpe writes that another veteran she profiles, Michelle, later came to see the war she served in as a mistake.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

But plausible profiles can be constructed through circumstantial evidence, what we know about both nature and the lifestyle of Pompeiians, and where a survivor might have turned up later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

While the number of accounts accessed directly in the breach only represented a small fraction of 23andMe's total users, the hackers were able to access the profiles of those users' relatives.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

The videos will cover a variety of topics, including gardening tips, travel and celebrity profiles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

They raised wet lips at Ralph, for they seemed provided with not quite enough skin, so that their profiles were blurred and their mouths pulled open.

From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

The walls are lined with paintings done by her husband, Igor — a painter and sculptor whom The Times profiled in 1991.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 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

Barron’s profiled the tech giant’s quantum effort in December, making the case that success in this area could revitalize the company.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

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

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

He was interviewed twice on local television, profiled by newspapers, and by the Oklahoman magazine, and continued to draw crowds to his table.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

The genetic profiling revealed that female belugas regularly switch mates across breeding seasons, also over a long reproductive life.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 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 tracked changes in the microbial populations using advanced DNA analysis and metabolite profiling to better understand how fermentation unfolds.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026

“Now, you two experts are on handsome retainers for your profiling work. Correct?”

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Related Words

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