portray

verb

por·​tray pȯr-ˈtrā 

pər-

portrayed; portraying; portrays

transitive verb

1

: to make a picture of : depict

2

a

: to describe in a particular way

The article portrayed the president as confident.

b

: to play the role of : enact

portrays the hero in the film

portrayer noun

Synonyms of portray

• describe
• depict

Examples of portray in a Sentence

The White House has portrayed the President as deeply conflicted over the matter.

The lawyer portrayed his client as a victim of child abuse.

He portrayed himself as a victim.

The painting portrays the queen in a purple robe.

Laurence Olivier portrayed Hamlet beautifully.

Recent Examples on the Web

Take William Shakespeare, who is often portrayed as a carouser, downing pints while exchanging barbs with his fellow writers, cheating on his wife with both men and women, passionately engaging his quill to reimagine the very nature of the human being. —Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025

Arena employees are also allegedly hurt by the Stars, who are portrayed as vetoing annual bonuses. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 3 Nov. 2025

If the Heat received its pick back — which ESPN front-officer insider Bobby Marks portrayed as unlikely — Miami would have all of its future first-round picks and immediately would be able to trade four of them (2026, 2028, 2030 and 2032 in one scenario). —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 3 Nov. 2025

As Deadline exclusively announced, OG Aunt Viv in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Hubert, will portray a wise woman who helps Hilary on her quest and becomes instrumental to the Banks family. —Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English portraien, purtrayen, purtreyen "to draw, paint, depict, decorate, form a mental image of," borrowed from Anglo-French purtraire "to represent (in drawing, painting, etc.), depict, decorate, plan" (also continental Old French pourtraire), from pur-, pour-, por-, prefix marking completion of an action (going back to Latin prō-, prefix denoting forward movement) + traire "to drag, pull, draw out, launch, shoot, trace, represent," going back to Latin trahere "to drag, draw, take along" — more at pro- entry 2, abstract entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for portray

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

portray

verb

por·​tray pōr-ˈtrā 

pȯr-

1

: to make a portrait of

2

a

: to describe in words

b

: to play the role of

portrayer noun