personify

verb per·son·i·fy \ pər-ˈsä-nə-ˌfī \

|Updated on: 8 Aug 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

—

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

That relationship — personified by the close bonds of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940s and Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s — is being tested as never before.

— New York Times, "Big Protests Greet Trump’s Visit to Britain," 12 July 2018
Ferocity personified: Tkay Maidza, an Australian 21-year-old with a ton of promise, gets a shimmering production from Hoodboi and bodies it with an uncomplicated flow that eventually pivots into breathy singing.

— jason lipshutz, Billboard, "20 Great Pop Songs From 2018's First Half You Might Have Missed," 5 July 2018
No one personifies that idea more than the coach, Steve Sampson.

— joe knowles, chicagotribune.com, "Roger Bennett on 'American Fiasco,' the state of U.S. soccer and the 'siren call' of Chicago," 27 June 2018
It's been a season full of ups and downs, personified this week by two teams -- the Oakland A's and Milwaukee Brewers -- who have a player in both of our categories.

— lawr michaels, USA TODAY, "Fantasy baseball sizzlers, fizzlers: Franklin Barreto coming of age," 26 June 2018
The undeniable link between the two entities may well be best personified now by the long-time professional connection between Hirshland and Wasserman.

— christine brennan, USA TODAY, "Beleaguered USOC chooses fresh start in its pick for CEO," 12 July 2018
The challenges facing rescuers become personified in the form of Saman Kunan, an ex-Thai Navy SEAL who died after successfully bringing the boys oxygen tanks on July 6.

— david grossman, Popular Mechanics, "All 12 Thai Boys Rescued From Cave," 10 July 2018
Both John and Joe — and Wills, who is still on the show — personify a kind of fleeting Bachelorette hero.

— rebecca farley, refinery29.com, "Behold: The Bachelor Unicorns — The Perfect Contestants Who Came & Went," 9 July 2018
The beauty of this game may be personified in Larry Ward’s jump shot.

— mike jensen, Philly.com, "This weekly pickup game has been a Philly hoops staple since 1982," 28 June 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