lionize
verb
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Across time and across cultures—as evidenced from Chauvet-Pont d’Arc’s paintings to The Lion King—lions have captured people’s imaginations. Though the big cats themselves are fascinatingly complex, it’s perhaps no surprise that humans have long projected qualities of bravery and regality upon the proverbial “king of the beasts.” It is precisely those and similar admirable qualities that led, in the 18th century, to lion being used for a person who is similarly well-regarded, especially after a long and distinguished career in a particular field, as in “lion of the Senate,” or “literary lion.” This sense of lion imbues the verb lionize, which first appeared in English in the early 19th century to apply to acts of treating someone as, perhaps, deserving of roaring applause.
Examples of lionize in a Sentence
Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025
But a new genre of dragon-riding fiction reimagined human and dragon relationships to be much more reflective of the girl/horse relationships lionized by earlier generations.
—Rebecca Scofield / Made By History, TIME, 21 Jan. 2025
The only exception of course is the intersex pope (who - surprise! - has female reproductive parts) & the cardinal who keeps her secret - bc of course that kind of Catholic secret-keeping must be lionized.
—Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 12 Jan. 2025
The only exception of course is the intersex pope (who — surprise! — has female reproductive parts) & the cardinal who keeps her secret — bc of course that kind of Catholic secret-keeping must be lionized.
—Jen Juneau, People.com, 6 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lionize
Cite this Entry
“Lionize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lionize. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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