personify

verb per·son·i·fy \ pər-ˈsä-nə-ˌfī \

|Updated on: 13 Jun 2018

Examples: personify in a Sentence

Definition of personify

personified; personifying

transitive verb

1 : to conceive of or represent as a person or as having human qualities or powers

2 : to be the embodiment or personification of : incarnate

a teacher who personified patience

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personifier

play \pər-ˈsä-nə-ˌfī(-ə)r\ noun

See personify defined for English-language learners

See personify defined for kids

Examples of personify in a Sentence

The ancient Greeks personified the forces of nature as gods and goddesses.
Justice is personified as a woman with her eyes covered.

Recent Examples of personify from the Web

Mount of Luna Named after the ancient Roman goddess who personified the moon, the Mount of Luna symbolizes imagination, intuition, and psychic powers.

— aliza kelly faragher, Allure, "A Beginner's Guide to Reading Palms," 4 June 2018
Weiss details the tribalism within the women’s movement as personified by Catt and the more militant and provocative Alice Paul, who led the National Woman’s Party.

— curtis sittenfeld, New York Times, "In ‘The Woman’s Hour,’ the Battle Over the 19th Amendment Comes to Life," 18 Apr. 2018
As a result, giddiness and apprehension have always marked her arrival on the main stage, whether personified by Hillary Clinton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Catherine the Great, or Lady Macbeth.

— sadie stein, Town & Country, "The Revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses and the Evolution of the Society Grand Dame," 20 Sep. 2016
Soft power personified On the face of it, this should be a windfall for American soft power.

— The Economist, "A formative experienceFor China’s elite, studying abroad is de rigueur," 17 May 2018
Faust was quiet eloquence personified in the largo movement of the Sonata No. 3 in C (BWV 1005).

— john von rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Violinist Faust, in a brilliant CSO debut, makes convincing case for flawed Schumann rarity," 12 May 2018
No singer personified that better than Kathleen Battle, who became a star in the 1980s as a spectacular coloratura soprano.

— mark swed, latimes.com, "Kathleen Battle, Julia Bullock and the saga of opera singers of color," 5 Apr. 2018
And the 26-year-old who was once one of the Padres’ top two prospects and who hit a franchise rookie record 26 home runs last season is in the middle of the position that, at present, personifies that transition.

— kevin acee, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Crowded outfield is a sign of Padres' progress," 4 Mar. 2018
The dinner -- named after the country’s first treasury secretary (and latter day musical sensation) -- celebrates public figures identified as personifying principals like individual liberty and free markets.

— tom metcalf, Bloomberg.com, "Stanley Druckenmiller Defends Jeff Bezos Against Trump’s Amazon Attacks," 3 May 2018

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

First Known Use of personify

1728

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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personify Synonyms

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

PERSONIFY Defined for English Language Learners

personify

verb

Definition of personify for English Language Learners

: to have a lot of (a particular quality) : to be the perfect example of a person who has (a quality)
: to think of or represent (a thing or idea) as a person or as having human qualities or powers