personify
pronunciation
How to pronounce personify in British English:
UK [pəˈsɒnɪfaɪ]
How to pronounce personify in American English:
US [pərˈsɑnɪfaɪ]
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- Verb:
- invest with or as with a body; give body to
- represent, as of a character on stage
- attribute human qualities to something
Word Origin
- personify (v.)
- 1727 "to attribute personal form to things or abstractions" (especially as an artistic or literary technique), from person + -fy or from French personnifier (17c.), from personne. Meaning "to represent, embody" attested from 1806. Related: Personified; personifying.
Example
- 1. " You tend to personify things that you think about a lot , " she says .
- 2. The beneficiaries are not the billionaire financiers and celebrities who have come to personify income inequality in the 21st century .
- 3. As mayor of las vegas for almost 12 years , oscar goodman has made it his mission to personify what he calls this " adult playland " in the desert .
- 4. He was a fantastic teacher and he also seemed to personify a spiritual longing endemic in contemporary china .
- 5. But the fact that so many activists and analysts in the arab world and beyond so personify the problem , and speak so glibly of their goals , also suggests a failure to grasp the depth of the challenge .