personify

verb per·son·i·fy \ pər-ˈsä-nə-ˌfī \

Updated on: 19 Apr 2018

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

Mnemosyne personifies the mother of all muses: Memory herself.

— Vogue, "Nick Georgiou Is the Artist Behind the Extraordinary Book Sculptures at Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Gioielleria Show," 11 Apr. 2018
This could take the form of symbolic characters, who personified good or evil rather than being fully-dimensional, or a literal moral tacked on to the end of the text.

— lorraine boissoneault, Smithsonian, "The First Novel for Children Taught Girls the Power of Reading," 11 Apr. 2018
Americans don’t necessarily need Zuckerberg to act like a normal CEO, personifying his company and hanging his head in shame.

— robinson meyer, The Atlantic, "Mark Zuckerberg Says He’s Not Resigning," 9 Apr. 2018
Bitcoin Barons The successful cryptocrat personifies bland normcore.

— mike albo and amanda duarte, Town & Country, "The Official Bitcoin Billionaire's Handbook," 6 Mar. 2018
Every single one of these followers seemed to have the same relationship goals, personified in the form of Jay and Alexis.

— helin jung, Cosmopolitan, "What Is Going on With Instagram Couple Alexis Ren and Jay Alvarrez?," 26 Aug. 2016
The position, with its genial-sounding name, is an unusual hybrid of counselor, educator and cop, and perhaps no other job better personifies America’s shifting ideas about schools, policing and safety.

— stephanie saul, timothy williams and anemona hartocollis, New York Times, "School Officer: A Job With Many Roles and One Big Responsibility," 4 Mar. 2018
Inside Out This film personifies emotions: joy, fear, anger, disgust and sadness.

— mali anderson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Skipping the Oscar viewing party? Have a family film viewing party instead!," 22 Feb. 2018
Larry and Mary personified the Cruise’s economic impact.

— mark phelan, Detroit Free Press, "The 'mayor of Woodward' made the Dream Cruise a celebration of Michigan," 16 Feb. 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

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