SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
personify
verb
To embody a quality or represent a nonhuman thing as human.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
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A useful distinction
Alternatives apply to the displayed meaning. Related wording may differ in tone or grammar and is not always interchangeable.
To embody a quality or represent a nonhuman thing as human
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
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RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The personify family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
personificationnoun
The representation of a quality in a person or of nonhuman things as having human qualities.
The representation of a quality in a person or of nonhuman things as having human qualities
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
She seemed the personification of patience amid the confusion.
The poet's personification of winter gave the season a stern voice.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See personify in use
The character would personify the town's restless ambition.
Poets may personify the wind as a whispering traveler.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license