MEANING
1. To represent the essential or most typical qualities of something.
2. To make a brief condensed account or summary of a longer work or subject.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- epitomize restraint
- epitomize a problem
On the page
The unadorned doorway epitomized the house’s deliberate restraint.
His answer epitomized the problem the inquiry had refused to name.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- epitomize
- Past tense
- epitomized
- Past participle
- epitomized
- Present participle
- epitomizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- epitomize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are epitomizing
- Present perfect
- have/has epitomized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been epitomizing
- Past
- epitomized
- Past continuous
- was/were epitomizing
- Past perfect
- had epitomized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been epitomizing
- Future
- will epitomize
- Future continuous
- will be epitomizing
- Future perfect
- will have epitomized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been epitomizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: epitomize; epitomizes; epitomized; epitomized; epitomizing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: epitomizes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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