MEANING
1. To represent an abstraction, object, or nonhuman thing with human form, qualities, or agency.
2. To be a striking embodiment or example of a quality.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- personify death
- personify a city
On the page
The poem personified death as a tired traveler.
She personified the city without forgetting the people who actually lived there.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- personify
- Past tense
- personified
- Past participle
- personified
- Present participle
- personifying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- personify
- Present continuous
- am/is/are personifying
- Present perfect
- have/has personified
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been personifying
- Past
- personified
- Past continuous
- was/were personifying
- Past perfect
- had personified
- Past perfect continuous
- had been personifying
- Future
- will personify
- Future continuous
- will be personifying
- Future perfect
- will have personified
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been personifying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: personify; personifies; personified; personified; personifying Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: personifies.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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