1
as in describes
to give a representation or account of in words
the author portrays her characters with lifelike vividness
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in characterizes
to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group
traditionally, European authors portrayed the natives as wise and noble
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in depicts
to present a picture of
a landscape that portrays the scenery near the town where the painter grew up
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4
as in plays
to present a portrayal or performance of
gained fame portraying Susan B. Anthony in a one-woman show
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Recent Examples of portrays
Hamnet depicts a fictional account of Shakespeare's life with his young family; Buckley, 35, portrays the Bard's wife Agnes, while Watson plays Mescal's onscreen mother as Mary Shakespeare.
—
Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
Also, why is arthouse pretty boy Louis Garrel, who portrays the leader of a resistance group known as Breakwalls (That’s seriously their name.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
The show portrays seven von Trapp children, but the real family had 10 children.
—Debby Rice, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2025
Mescal portrays Shakespeare, though Maggie O’Farrell’s novel — and Chloé Zhao’s adaptation — shift focus away from the playwright to Agnes and the family dynamic.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025
Trump’s effort to influence how the Smithsonian portrays American history is a far cry from how other countries handle their histories, said 78-year-old Lorraine Miles.
—Brieanna J. Frank, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2025
Even the movie Practical Magic portrays it as a sign of misfortune.
—Lisa Stardust, Refinery29, 5 Sep. 2025
Stefania D'Alessandro/WireImage What To Know In The Smashing Machine, Johnson portrays Kerr, the two-time UFC heavyweight tournament winner whose career and life in the late 1990s included both ring success and struggles with painkiller addiction.
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
The Disneyland show portrays Disney in his office, sharing a bit about his life and stories from the past.
—Megan Dubois, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025
Also, why is arthouse pretty boy Louis Garrel, who portrays the leader of a resistance group known as Breakwalls (That’s seriously their name.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025
The show portrays seven von Trapp children, but the real family had 10 children.
—Debby Rice, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2025
Mescal portrays Shakespeare, though Maggie O’Farrell’s novel — and Chloé Zhao’s adaptation — shift focus away from the playwright to Agnes and the family dynamic.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025
Trump’s effort to influence how the Smithsonian portrays American history is a far cry from how other countries handle their histories, said 78-year-old Lorraine Miles.
—Brieanna J. Frank, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2025
Even the movie Practical Magic portrays it as a sign of misfortune.
—Lisa Stardust, Refinery29, 5 Sep. 2025
Stefania D'Alessandro/WireImage What To Know In The Smashing Machine, Johnson portrays Kerr, the two-time UFC heavyweight tournament winner whose career and life in the late 1990s included both ring success and struggles with painkiller addiction.
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
The Disneyland show portrays Disney in his office, sharing a bit about his life and stories from the past.
—Megan Dubois, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portrays
Verb
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In a study, the team describes how cooling a gas of radioactive atoms to temperatures colder than deep space could synchronize their radioactive decay.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Sep. 2025
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The document describes workers becoming one with their fiery machines.—
Sonja Fritzsche,
The Conversation,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The title that has become attached to the painting over time curiously characterizes the Virgin Mary by the fruit, perhaps in recognition of her chastity, especially when considered in the context of Persephone’s myth.—
Demir Alp,
JSTOR Daily,
29 Aug. 2025
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Sure, rum is often identified with the sunny beaches and tropical climate that characterizes most of its places of origin.—
Claudia Alarcón,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Vox Dei depicts these 100-year old images in a new light — literally, which is a fitting way to celebrate the centennial of the building, Roberson said.—
Lauren Costantino,
Miami Herald,
10 Sep. 2025
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The real Larry was gay, though the film depicts him as more bisexual.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Star actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson who plays the charismatic chef and ex-convict trying to rebuild his life and reputation, will attend the Spanish event, next to co-writers and producers Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson and Hörður Rúnarsson of Act4.—
Annika Pham,
Variety,
9 Sep. 2025
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George Clooney plays the titular protagonist, a famous movie actor who embarks on a journey of self-discovery confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager Ron (Adam Sandler).—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Cece performs elegance, beauty, and perfection while sweating through excruciating pain, enduring enormous levels of judgement.—
Lauren Morrow
September 9,
Literary Hub,
9 Sep. 2025
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Podcast topics are selected with the help of AI, based on Google and social media trends, and then the team may launch five different versions of the show with different titles to see what performs the best.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Their body clearly interprets your presence as an unmistakable signal of safety and security.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 2025
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Each smartlet interprets signals with logic programmed on its microchip.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The iPhone Air represents Apple’s response to increasing competition in ultra-thin premium devices, particularly from Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
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This announcement represents a major milestone in the software and hardware needed to efficiently process inference queries, disaggregating inference processing into two workloads with a GPU tailored for each in the case of long-context windows greater than one million tokens.—
Karl Freund,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Portrays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portrays. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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