biography

noun bi·og·ra·phy \ bī-ˈä-grə-fē also bē- \

|Updated on: 18 Aug 2018

Examples: biography in a Sentence

Editor's Note: So You've Been Asked to Submit a biography

Definition of biography

plural biographies

1 : a usually written history of a person's life

a new biography of Abraham Lincoln

2 : biographical writings as a whole

the genre of biography

3 : an account of the life of something (such as an animal, a coin, or a building)

the biography of the commonwealth

See biography defined for English-language learners

See biography defined for kids

Examples of biography in a Sentence

a new biography of Abraham Lincoln
an unauthorized biography of the actor gave him some serious headaches

Recent Examples of biography from the Web

According to his biography, Kavanaugh worked with Starr from 1994 to 1997, and was the co-author of the Starr Report, which detailed President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and laid out the case for his impeachment.

— aimee ortiz, BostonGlobe.com, "Five points of interest about Judge Brett Kavanaugh," 10 July 2018
The daughter of an English actress and an American economist, Fox was born in New York but moved every year of her childhood, according to her biography on WME Speakers, a division of WME talent agency.

— sam dangremond, Town & Country, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says He Couldn't Be Happier for His Son to Marry Former CIA Officer Amaryllis Fox," 26 June 2018
Before joining the tour full time, Johnson raced with the Outlaws occasionally, making his first start in 1998 and collecting his first victory in 2003, according to his biography on the series' website.

— dave kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "World of Outlaws star hospitalized after serious crash at Beaver Dam Raceway," 24 June 2018
According to her Times biography, Watkins has been credited with several journalistic scoops, including revealing that Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, met with a Russian spy in 2013.

— carolyn mcatee cerbin, USA TODAY, "Feds seize New York Times reporter's phone, email records in leak probe," 7 June 2018
According to his Stetson athletics biography, Gilbert is majoring in business systems and analytics.

— stephen ruiz, OrlandoSentinel.com, "As Stetson locks up Super Regional berth, ace looms as first-round draft pick," 3 June 2018
Duplantis is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, which includes a weekly television program that reached 106 million U.S. households, according to his Amazon author biography.

— washington post, latimes.com, "Televangelist wants his followers to pay for a $54-million private jet. It would be his fourth plane," 30 May 2018
Duplantis is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, which includes a weekly television program that reached 106 million U.S. households, according to his Amazon author biography.

— cleve r. wootson jr., chicagotribune.com, "Televangelist with three planes wants followers to pay for a $54 million private jet," 29 May 2018
According to his biography on NASA’s website, Feustel earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Purdue, which is just shy of 70 miles away from the track.

— michelle r. martinelli, For The Win, "Astronaut shares beautiful photo of Indy 500 track from Space Station," 26 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'biography.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

So You've Been Asked to Submit a biography

In a library, the word biography refers both to a kind of book and to a section where books of that kind are found. Each biography tells the story of a real person's life. A biography may be about someone who lived long ago, recently, or even someone who is still living, though in the last case it must necessarily be incomplete. The term autobiography refers to a biography written by the person it's about. Autobiographies are of course also necessarily incomplete.

Sometimes biographies are significantly shorter than a book—something anyone who's been asked to submit a biography for, say, a conference or a community newsletter will be glad to know. Often the word in these contexts is shortened to bio, a term that can be both a synonym of biography and a term for what is actually a biographical sketch: a brief description of a person's life. These kinds of biographies—bios—vary, but many times they are only a few sentences long. Looking at bios that have been used in the same context can be a useful guide in determining what to put in your own.