magnify

verb

mag·​ni·​fy ˈmag-nə-ˌfī 

magnified; magnifying

transitive verb

1

a

: extol, laud

while they magnified the art, they often belittled the artist

—Havelock Ellis

b

: to cause to be held in greater esteem or respect

2

a

: to increase in significance : intensify

real drama … will use ugliness to magnify beauty

—Alan Mickle

b

: exaggerate

magnifies every minor issue to crisis proportions

3

: to enlarge in fact or in appearance

The lens magnified the image 100 times.

intransitive verb

: to have the power of causing objects to appear larger than they are

a glass that magnifies greatly

Synonyms

• color
• elaborate (on)
• embellish
• embroider
• exaggerate
• hyperbolize
• pad
• stretch

Examples of magnify in a Sentence

The sound was magnified by the calm air.

His failures have been magnified by the success of his friends.

I don't want to magnify the importance of these problems.

The lens magnified the image 100 times.

a magnified view of the image

Recent Examples on the Web

This problem has been magnified by the fact that most EV early adopters already own an electric car, and don’t need a new one. —Paolo Confino, Fortune, 4 Apr. 2024

The first bite with a sprinkle of yuzu immediately clicks, the salt drawing out and magnifying the nuttiness of the buckwheat. —Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024

Counting noncitizens produces a greater number of smaller districts than otherwise would exist, which magnifies the power of the voting citizens in those districts. —The Arizona Republic, 29 Mar. 2024

At the same time, the UK’s decline is magnified on London’s streets. —Peter Guest, WIRED, 26 Mar. 2024

Although another team of scientists reported that the Hubble Space Telescope spotted a quasar as bright as 600 trillion suns in 2019, the object’s luminosity was intensified by gravitational lensing, a phenomenon in which galaxy clusters help to magnify objects in the distant universe. —Ashley Strickland, CNN, 21 Feb. 2024

People with social anxiety often magnify negative thoughts and assume the worst will happen. —Anthea Levi, Health, 24 Mar. 2024

In response to the conspiracy theories, the Royal Family released a photograph of the princess and her three children for British Mother’s Day, which was quickly discovered to be digitally altered, prompting news outlets to retract the photo and thus magnify the situation at least a hundredfold. —Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024

The power of the ruling was magnified by its timing, coming on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. —Mike Corder and Raf Casert The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English magnifien, from Anglo-French magnifier, from Latin magnificare, from magnificus

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Kids Definition

magnify

verb

mag·​ni·​fy ˈmag-nə-ˌfī 

magnified; magnifying

1

: extol, praise

2

a

: to increase in importance

b

: exaggerate

3

: to enlarge in fact or in appearance

a microscope magnifies an object seen through it

magnifier

-ˌfī(-ə)r

noun

Medical Definition

magnify

verb

mag·​ni·​fy ˈmag-nə-ˌfī 

magnified; magnifying

transitive verb

: to enlarge in appearance

intransitive verb

: to have the power of causing objects to appear larger than they are