as in honoring
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 lionizing
That brings us back to the folly of lionizing Kent as a conscientious objector to Trump and the president’s hawkish foreign policy as of late.
—
David M. Drucker,
Twin Cities,
29 Mar. 2026
Los Angeles educators were also directed to immediately shift from lionizing Chávez to honoring instead the farmworkers’ movement.
—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
Gelles avoids lionizing Patagonia’s leader, describing Chouinard’s mercurial leadership style that often bewildered his staff at Patagonia.
—
Maya Silver,
Outside,
20 Oct. 2025
David M. Drucker,
Twin Cities,
29 Mar. 2026
Los Angeles educators were also directed to immediately shift from lionizing Chávez to honoring instead the farmworkers’ movement.
—
Howard Blume,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
Gelles avoids lionizing Patagonia’s leader, describing Chouinard’s mercurial leadership style that often bewildered his staff at Patagonia.
—
Maya Silver,
Outside,
20 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lionizing
Verb
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Welded into the hull, a 1949 Dutch coin honoring the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, along with a newspaper, act as markers to symbolize both Dutch and American identity.
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In a Father's Day post honoring her late dad – William John Garner, who died in 2024 – Garner reflected on her ex-husband's relationship with their children.
Verb
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After touring the city and admiring the boulevards and parks with dear ol’ mom, Nicholas and Ileana made a bet on the Army-Navy football game, the Journal said.
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Many of the players grew up admiring Brazil, just as many of the Haitian fans flooding this city in their Caribbean nation’s blue and red national colors, to see the game live from the stands.
Verb
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Longtime friends Robert De Niro and Streep shared a friendly smooch during the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala in 2018, following the actor's speech praising the star.
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Bruckheimer kicked off the conversation by praising Cue and the Apple team.
Verb
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Our history is complex but acknowledging its complexity shouldn't be considered inconsistent with loving our country and revering its founders.
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What these men accomplished is worth remembering and revering even as their number dwindles.
Verb
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Jellicle Ball joins that lineage, inviting its audience to experience the joys of the Black and Latino ball scene while venerating its bittersweet roots.
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Exquisite dribblers such as Olise need protecting and venerating.
Verb
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Iran has set the bar high, and keeps raising it, by tying any final accord to a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, framed in the text of the agreement as respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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One of the most important things for them, beyond respecting the characters, was the look.
Verb
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Mother African Union Church was founded decades before Juneteenth, born out of racist policies and structures that excluded people of African descent from worshipping freely.
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In the entry, a ditsy print (Schumacher’s Margie Floral in Porcelain) climbs up the walls and carries the blue-and-white combo upstairs, where the primary suite embraces those same sky-worshipping shades—a tip of the hat to the scenery outside.
Verb
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The story goes that Balanchine was so struck by the multi-colored glow of the jewelry displays at the Van Cleef & Arpels New York showroom that this led him to create a dance exalting their beauty.
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As Alvarado explores repeatedly, Valdez rejected that pathway, instead honing his indigenous roots, and dedicating his life to exalting those who, like him, exist in the in-between.
Cite this Entry
“Lionizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lionizing. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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