hagiography

as in biography
disapproving a book about someone's life that makes it seem better than it really is or was a hagiography of the leader written by one of his closest confidants

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hagiography This isn’t a glossy hagiography but a complicated character study. Jeff Benjamin, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025 The piece thankfully stops short of being a hagiography of Murrow: the point is made that by stepping so far out into partisan waters as distinct from just reporting the news, the great newsman opened the door to partisan attacks on a clearly partisan media. Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025 In a music doc landscape pocked with overwrought hagiographies, The Makings of Curtis Mayfield does distinguish itself. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2025 Straight-up hagiographies and hit jobs thankfully weren’t options. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 25 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for hagiography
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hagiography
Noun
  • Murr uses for paper the draft pages of a biography about a struggling brooding composer named Johannes Kreisler; Murr comes off as the less ridiculous and more emotionally healthy of the two.
    Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Moving forward, mastering a personal podcast could replace soft-focus biographies or wonky books as a way for politicians to increase their profiles.
    David Bauder, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Also starring Timothée Chalamet, Beautiful Boy is based on a pair of memoirs by father and son David and Nic Sheff.
    Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Elsewhere there will be Waiting For the Out, the adaptation of Andy West’s memoir written by Dennis Kelly about a philosopher teaching prisoners concepts such as dominance and free will only to have his own past unravel.
    Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025

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“Hagiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hagiography. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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