hagiography
noun
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The second part of hagiography is familiar: the combining form -graphy, which comes from the Greek verb graphein, meaning "to write," is found in biography and calligraphy (among many others) too. Hagio-, however, is more unusual; it comes from a Greek word that meant "holy, sacred" in Ancient Greek and more recently "saintly," by way of the term Hagiographa, another name for the Ketuvim, the third part of the Jewish Scriptures. English's hagiography can refer to biography of actual saints, but it is more typically applied to biography that treats ordinary human subjects as if they were saints.
Examples of hagiography in a Sentence
Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2025
This isn’t a glossy hagiography but a complicated character study.
—Jeff Benjamin, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025
The piece thankfully stops short of being a hagiography of Murrow: the point is made that by stepping so far out into partisan waters as distinct from just reporting the news, the great newsman opened the door to partisan attacks on a clearly partisan media.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025
The piece thankfully stops short of being a hagiography of Murrow: the point is made therein that by stepping so far out into partisan waters as distinct from just reporting the news, the great newsman opened the door to partisan attacks on a clearly partisan media.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hagiography
Cite this Entry
“Hagiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hagiography. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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