typify
Americanverb
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to be typical of; characterize
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to symbolize or represent completely, by or as if by a type
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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typifysimple
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typifiessimple
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have typifiedperfect
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has typifiedperfect
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am typifyingprogressive
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are typifyingprogressive
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is typifyingprogressive
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have been typifyingperfect progressive
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has been typifyingperfect progressive
Past
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typifiedsimple
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had typifiedperfect
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was typifyingprogressive
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were typifyingprogressive
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had been typifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of typify
Explanation
To typify is to represent what is typical of something or someone. You might say that screaming and door slamming typify your spoiled cousin if that kind of behavior is exactly the kind of thing she usually does. Something that's characteristic of a group of people typifies them. You might observe, for example, that studying late on a Friday night typifies your college friends who are math majors. You could also say that sunny days and cool nights typify autumn in New England, since that's the typical weather for that particular place and time. The root word is Greek — typos, which means "dent, impression, mark, figure, or original form."
Vocabulary lists containing typify
"The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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The Namesake
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Articles on Dangers of Technology
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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:
What better show to typify that era of relative calm than what the characters on “Seinfeld” described as a show about nothing?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
On the second series, Smith tripped over Charbonnet’s foot as he dropped back to pass and was touched down at the 1-yard-line, a play that seemed to typify the Seahawks’ ineptness in the first half.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 23, 2023
The hashtag #PoorMartha was used on social media to typify fans’ glee at her susceptibility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
Wales' shirt numbers were falling off to confuse matters and typify the frantic opening exchanges.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2023
They might well answer some further purpose, as for example to typify the peculiar tastes of the proprietor in respect to his books.
From In the Track of the Bookworm by Irving Browne
When everything else is stripped away, that alone typifies Martin’s failure of leadership.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2026
It’s co-hosted by British multihyphenate producer and entrepreneur Charles Finch, who presides over the affair with the charm and graciousness that typifies the best hosts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026
These compromises create the dead-stick handling, latency and hysteresis that typifies your average two-box people mover.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
As typifies a labor of love, the music, not the pay, is the thing.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
What he was not interested in was the grueling fieldwork that typifies sociology.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
They also suggest that the disinflation earlier this year may have been another of the false dawns that have typified recent Fed performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
He had opportunities in four of the five evening frames, but a missed black off the spot in the final frame typified an error-strewn display.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2026
Few typified that effort quite like the fearless Lewis Hall.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
Now forgotten, Dillon, Read & Co. typified the Wall Street of roll-top desks and patrician dignity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
The thing that most worried him about the Ptolemaic system, typified by the puzzle of the Moon, was the business of equants.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
The work was unveiled in 1920 in a ceremony that lauded Otis for typifying “the ideal which first brought men and women to America.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2024
But typifying the first-half offensive struggles, Smith decided to throw it and his pass to Lockett fell incomplete.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2022
The defining moment was a crucial try from replacement hooker Malcolm Marx, typifying the impact of the South African forwards from the bench.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2021
Before expending the effort typifying one's love language, it is worth inquiring: is the concept is actually psychologically meaningful, or just another batch of pop psychology B.S.?
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2021
It might even refer to some religious experience of Marvell's own: Milton's "mighty Pan," typifying the Redeemer, is in all probability the original.
From Essays by Arthur Christopher Benson
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
