as in to honor
to treat (someone) as a very important and famous person
She was lionized everywhere after her novel won the Pulitzer Prize.
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Recent Examples of lionize
She’s been lionized, condemned (even sometimes by the left), mocked, dismissed, revered, and occasionally rediscovered.
—
David Browne, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2025
His life wasn’t cut short like the lives of Jimi Hendrix or John Lennon, which was great, but also meant that he wasn’t lionized as a brilliant comet gone too soon.
—Ben Greenman, Pitchfork, 10 June 2025
Advertisement Advertisement The problem is this story lionizes an industrial past with little basis in reality.
— Made By History, Time, 21 Apr. 2025
Editors’ Picks 36 Hours in Banff Among those stories of staging in French kitchens and global travel, there are chefs who believe in language that spoofs their craft, rather than lionizing it.
—Sam Corbin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lionize
David Browne, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2025
His life wasn’t cut short like the lives of Jimi Hendrix or John Lennon, which was great, but also meant that he wasn’t lionized as a brilliant comet gone too soon.
—Ben Greenman, Pitchfork, 10 June 2025
Advertisement Advertisement The problem is this story lionizes an industrial past with little basis in reality.
— Made By History, Time, 21 Apr. 2025
Editors’ Picks 36 Hours in Banff Among those stories of staging in French kitchens and global travel, there are chefs who believe in language that spoofs their craft, rather than lionizing it.
—Sam Corbin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lionize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lionize
Verb
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Beyond honoring Akil’s contributions, the evening sets the stage for the Hollywood Confidential College Tour launching later this fall.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
13 Sep. 2025
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Our first responsibility is to honor our commitments and wind down in a way that minimizes harm from the rescission.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That imperfection doesn’t disqualify you from being admired.—
Vibhas Ratanjee,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Along with users telling her to appreciate every second, others took a moment to admire the pure joy radiating from Luna and her family.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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That’s an understandable perspective, but where the morals of the interview get so twisted is how much weight Thug gives to being a millionaire and why that’s a big reason he should not just be respected but revered.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
11 Sep. 2025
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The Victorians had turned death into something of a pageant, something to be celebrated as much as revered; for the large part, death followed illness and was often witnessed by surviving family members.—
Alice Vernon
September 8,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Advertisement Trump’s insistence on honoring these Confederates implicitly venerates their politics — and provides a justification for his own rule and ruin tactics, which so often echo them.—
Time,
Time,
5 Sep. 2025
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The site is retired from active worship but still venerated.—
Jack Tydeman,
Travel + Leisure,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Summer is usually the time of long days and longer vacations, but summer 2025 was a season where the business world’s inviolable godhead, the chief executive officer, looked less and less like a position worth exalting.—
Ian Chaffee,
Fortune,
5 Sep. 2025
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While knowledge has been exalted by artists, poets, philosophers and scientists, dictatorships have been opposed not only by great humanists but also by science itself.—
Davide Sartini,
Forbes.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Establish a joint steering group that synchronises direction while respecting domain expertise.—
Maman Ibrahim,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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Of course, the senators need to actually respect standards of economic expertise and integrity, but so far this has largely worked out in the history of the Fed — with both presidents and senators doing so.—
James B. Speta,
Twin Cities,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Mexican boxer issued his first public comments on X, praising Crawford while addressing his own future following the unanimous-decision defeat.—
Joel Thayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Sep. 2025
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Fans took to the comments to react, with many praising them both for their humor.—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent were respected and worshipped.—
James Fallon,
Footwear News,
10 Sep. 2025
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On Queen West stands a cathedral to gastronomy, complete with maple wood arched ceiling and steaks worth worshipping.—
Kate Dingwall,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lionize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lionize. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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