Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To think of or represent (an inanimate object or abstraction) as having personality or the qualities, thoughts, or movements of a living being: "To make history or psychology alive I personify it” ( Anaïs Nin).
- v. To represent (an object or abstraction) by a human figure.
- v. To represent (an abstract quality or idea): This character personifies evil.
- v. To be the embodiment or perfect example of: "Stalin now personified bolshevism in the eyes of the world” ( A.J.P. Taylor).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To treat or regard as a person; represent as a rational being; treat, for literary purposes, as if endowed with the sentiments, actions, or language of a rational being or person, or, for artistic purposes, as if having a human form and nature.
- To impersonate; be an impersonation or embodiment of: as, he personifies all that is mean.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To be an example of; to have all the attributes of.
- v. transitive To create a representation of an abstract quality in the form of literary character.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To regard, treat, or represent as a person; to represent as a rational being.
- v. To be the embodiment or personification of; to impersonate.
WordNet 3.0
- v. invest with or as with a body; give body to
- v. represent, as of a character on stage
- v. attribute human qualities to something
Etymologies
- French personnifier, from personne, person, from Old French persone; see person. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Mr. Polshek said he had been preparing for his transition out of the firm for years and had seen firsthand the downside of having one name personify a practice.”
“Steve: it is quote common to personify firms this way in the English language to refer to the owners and/or managers of thefirm.”
“Steve says: it is quote common to personify firms this way in the English language to refer to the owners and/or managers of thefirm.”
“If you personify the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control—everything you do will have a positive impact for God as well as for everyone in your life.”
“These players personify strength, resilience, and a certain kind of footballing integrity in sufficient quantity to overcome individual defects, such as Robson's drinking or Cantona's quixotic nature.”
The Guardian: Arsène Wenger's real blind spot is the Arsenal captaincy | Richard Williams
“Palin, who helped put the Tea Party on the map, and her protegee O'Donnell, best personify the new breed of Republican: charming, attractive, angry non-intellects who mock education, science and logic, while claiming "I am you" in an effort to identify with average voters.”
The Huffington Post: Andy Ostroy: The Midterms: It's the Stupidity , Stupid
“And we seem to be set to meet a bunch of other robotic dolls that personify a variety of gradations of good and evil.”
“This week revealed one of the businesses underbellies, and who better to personify that than Newman from Seinfeld!”
“Awards are presented to artists and other individuals who excel in their professional settings; who personify excellence on the national, state, or local level; and who have demonstrated a commitment to cultural diversity, understanding and unity in the arts.”
Take Wing And Soar Spirit of Excellence Award at Dwyer in Harlem «
“I guess the main difference between me and you is that I don't think it's necessary to put names on any of it, or personify it in any way, or to require others to do so.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘personify’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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PERSONSTRIONICS!!!!!!!!
The list where we neuter all those 'sexist' words, hopefully demonstrating the inanity of PC applied to language. Oh, and also the insanity.
If it's a bit obtuse then please comment. See exam...personpes, chairperson, christmas song si..., personstrionic, themn, persontorians, themalaya mountains, omnigender scouts, danniversary, itnal, british omnigende..., hystarassisteria and 47 more...
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Misc. Words.
Words I like to use, words I like but may forget.
corrosion, astonish, solace, ferment, continuum, kinesthetic, permeate, repose, caprice, cardinal, discourse, surrender and 610 more...
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Vocabulary
paradox, aberration, laconic, lugubrious, credulous, loquacious, deprecate, pointillistic, epigone, vehement, surly, obtuse and 359 more...
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cat 2012
mala fide, trafficking, impoverished, atrocity, divulge, personify, audacity, resurrect, dubious, bloated, sovereign, rein and 123 more...
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Words That Populate My Mind
This is a collection of words I love, old ones that I love the sound of when I repeat them for years and new ones coined in news articles on up and coming trends and technologies - most of them I k...
aroma, mojo, blithely, fringe, fray, synchronicity, doublespeak, buzzword, thoughtcrime, portmanteau, newspeak, oldspeak and 963 more...
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fountainhead
perversion, reproachful, mitigate, proletariat, cadaverous, gallantry, jauntily, malevolent, eludicate, sonorous, solicitude, dubious and 97 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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"y"
idiosyncrasy, neology, ingenuity, vapidity, insipidity, insipidly, obstinacy, adipsy, dexterity, gramercy, disparity, personify and 15 more...
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30 words a minute
coterie, suasible, pungent, bibber, tippler, lushington, infaust, cantankerous, Perverse, symbol, phallus, platitude and 35 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for personify.
gangerh The very word that neutered himify and herify. Feb 16, 2008