as in to educate
to provide (someone) with moral or spiritual understanding
a family-oriented show that tried to edify the television audience as well as entertain it
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Recent Examples of edify
Or think how far entertainment has gotten from the art that used to comprise it?
Board games like Trivial Pursuit were a long way down the road from the more edifying entertainment of say the Renaissance.
—
Caleb Harris, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
Park districts should be overwhelmed with opportunities for young people, whether meaningful and edifying summer jobs or recreational activities that foster community and belonging.
—Otis Moss Iii, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2025
Defeats can be at least as edifying and invigorating as successes.
—Henri J. Barkey, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2019
In 2025, Machel Montano helped kick off a whirlwind year for Caribbean music and culture with NPR Tiny Desk’s first-ever soca set; Thursday night (Jan. 8), Kes may have just done the same for 2026 with a dazzling, edifying headlining performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Unity Jazz Festival.
—Kyle Denis, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for edify
Caleb Harris, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
Park districts should be overwhelmed with opportunities for young people, whether meaningful and edifying summer jobs or recreational activities that foster community and belonging.
—Otis Moss Iii, Chicago Tribune, 25 May 2025
Defeats can be at least as edifying and invigorating as successes.
—Henri J. Barkey, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2019
In 2025, Machel Montano helped kick off a whirlwind year for Caribbean music and culture with NPR Tiny Desk’s first-ever soca set; Thursday night (Jan. 8), Kes may have just done the same for 2026 with a dazzling, edifying headlining performance at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Unity Jazz Festival.
—Kyle Denis, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for edify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for edify
Verb
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SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
3 Feb. 2026
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To many charter school advocates, declining enrollments are a result of IPS' failures to educate historically underserved students, sparking their flight to charters.—
Marissa Meador,
IndyStar,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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While it was made in the ‘90s, the collection (which showed slip dresses, shirts with undulating ruffles, and jacquard silk jackets constructed to look permanently burst-open) was inspired by the romance between Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
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The work was inspired by cephalopods such as octopuses, which can rapidly alter their skin’s appearance and texture to blend into their surroundings or communicate.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Edify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/edify. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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