lionize
verb
Did you know?
Across time and across cultures—as evidenced from Chauvet-Pont d’Arc’s paintings to The Lion King—lions have captured people’s imaginations. Though the big cats themselves are fascinatingly complex, it’s perhaps no surprise that humans have long projected qualities of bravery and regality upon the proverbial “king of the beasts.” It is precisely those and similar admirable qualities that led, in the 18th century, to lion being used for a person who is similarly well-regarded, especially after a long and distinguished career in a particular field, as in “lion of the Senate,” or “literary lion.” This sense of lion imbues the verb lionize, which first appeared in English in the early 19th century to apply to acts of treating someone as, perhaps, deserving of roaring applause.
Examples of lionize in a Sentence
Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 14 Oct. 2024
As badly as he had been treated at the end of his life, in death, Greeley was lionized for his accomplishments.
—Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Sep. 2024
There’s always backlash; history lionizes you as a hero, but until then a lot of people castigate you as a villain.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sep. 2024
Although the United States refused to send its athletes to Moscow in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Russian writers such as Boris Pasternak and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn continued to be lionized as voices of conscience.
—Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 19 June 2023
See all Example Sentences for lionize 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lionize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near lionize
Cite this Entry
“Lionize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lionize. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Copy Citation
Share