deify
Americanverb
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to exalt to the position of a god or personify as a god
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to accord divine honour or worship to
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to exalt in an extreme way; idealize
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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deifiernoun
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hyperdeifyverb (used with object)
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half-deifiedadjective
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self-deifyingadjective
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undeifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deifysimple
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deifiessimple
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have deifiedperfect
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has deifiedperfect
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am deifyingprogressive
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are deifyingprogressive
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is deifyingprogressive
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have been deifyingperfect progressive
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has been deifyingperfect progressive
Past
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deifiedsimple
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had deifiedperfect
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was deifyingprogressive
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were deifyingprogressive
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had been deifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deify
1300–50; Middle English deifien < Old French deifier < Late Latin deificāre. See deification, -ify
Explanation
When you deify someone, you're paying the highest compliment: you're treating them like a god. Maybe it's because people like to exaggerate, but we deify all the time. We deify the latest sports stars, singers, and actors. When politicians are popular, we deify them. Great writers and artists of the past — like Shakespeare and Picasso — are deified. Anytime we make someone seem so great, so powerful, so wonderful, and so amazing that it can't possibly be true, we're deifying them. Putting someone on a pedestal is something that we often do when we respect or love the person a lot.
Vocabulary lists containing deify
Power Suffix: -fy
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Mythology
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Between the World and Me
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
We build monuments and deify leaders in an effort to transcend our mortality.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 28, 2022
It’s a fascinating exploration of the paradoxes of humanity’s religious instincts — and the power of followers to deify flawed mortals against their will.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2022
American society tends to deify businesses and and athletes, he said.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2021
Why can’t Americans come to terms with our racist past without feeling compelled to demonize those we used to deify?
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2020
Man’s subliminal urge to destroy what he could neither subdue nor deify.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
In a culture that deifies celebrities, Williams remains one whose memory is often invoked with affectionate nostalgia, accompanied by some of his better movie quotes, or from one of his stand-up sets.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2023
While Butler humanizes Elvis, Luhrmann deifies him and argues that he possessed far more radical potential, both musically and politically, than he was allowed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2022
Gebru said the way the tech industry is covered by the media, which to her deifies tech leaders, helps shield tech companies from scrutiny.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 15, 2021
“Some men she extols, exalts, and almost deifies; others, whose virtues are far greater, and whose characters are more deserving of commendation, she passes by unheeded, and puts the finger of silence on her lips.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 16, 2020
Theologic philosophy, thoroughly investigated, has always necessarily for its base pure fetishism, which deifies instantly each body and each phenomenon capable of exciting the feeble thought of infant humanity.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 329, March, 1843 by Various
There was even a time when even George W. Bush was practically deified.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2024
But rather than commune with Marika, his deified mother, Miquella wants to escape the strictures and expectations of her Golden Order.
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
"The child would become deified and worshipped for generations as the villagers' intermediary with the gods".
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2023
In the public sphere, the imperial cult that worshipped deified emperors was a representation of the power of the imperial throne.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Quirinus was the name of the deified Romulus, the founder of Rome.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
It is certainly true that at some point we, as a culture, must stop deifying people whose work, message or backstory we admire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
There is a long and rich tradition of popular music fans deifying their icons.
From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2021
“They are not perfect. They are not perfect. We have to stop deifying them,” Mr. Lemon said.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 9, 2020
It acts as a deifying diptych to that of The Epic – from space to the earthly pursuit of heaven.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 21, 2019
The habit of exaggerating, of deifying those whom we have been taught to regard as the greatest and best, is a well-known disposition of the human mind.
From The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets by Richard B. Westbrook
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
