personify

verb

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per·son·i·fy | \ pər-ˈsä-nə-ˌfī

personified; personifying

Definition of personify

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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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 on the Web And there’s no foursome better equipped to personify this idea than real-life powerhouses Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk, Joan Smalls, and Adriana Lima. — Eliza Huber, refinery29.com, "Max Mara’s Latest Campaign Was Inspired By Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s James Bond," 7 Jan. 2020 Defense, personified by Oregon State's Esera Tuaolo and Oregon's Marcus Woods, dominates on a soggy day at Parker Stadium. — oregonlive, "Civil War football history: The Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers’ 122 meetings, game by game," 25 Nov. 2019 According to former coworkers, Grogan instead has long sympathized more with a populist, nonconformist brand of conservatism that Trump has come to personify. — Lev Facher, STAT, "How Joe Grogan, a former pharma lobbyist, upended Trump’s drug pricing agenda," 22 Oct. 2019 Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was criticized by many players for making that trade, seemingly shipping off a player who had personified the team’s work ethic and reputation, while sacrificing his body in the process. — BostonGlobe.com, "Isaiah Thomas trying to make the most of what may be his final chance - The Boston Globe," 14 Nov. 2019 Prosecutors already brought charges against City Council member Ed Burke, who personified Chicago machine politics for five decades, and state Sen. Thomas E. Cullerton, a distant cousin of the Illinois Senate’s top leader, John Cullerton. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Investigations touch Illinois powerbroker’s confidants," 27 Sep. 2019 Henderson is a player who in many ways, personifies the archetypal and often patronised English midfielder. — SI.com, "Jordan Henderson: An Ode to One of Football's Great Survivors," 5 Sep. 2019 He's captured iconic images of Mr. Trump that tell the story of his White House tenure and literally personifies what the president likes and dislikes. — CBS News, "Meet Doug Mills, the New York Times photographer Trump calls "a genius"," 17 Dec. 2019 Funny and stylish, the video sees karma personified as a jealous, hard to read lover that Daye just can’t seem to get over. — Sydney Scott, Essence, "Ryan Destiny Delivers With Long-Awaited Video For 'The Same'," 22 Nov. 2019

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.