lionize

verb

li·​on·​ize ˈlī-ə-ˌnīz How to pronounce lionize (audio)
lionized; lionizing

transitive verb

: to treat as an object of great interest or importance
lionization noun
lionizer noun

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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

She was lionized everywhere after her novel won the Pulitzer Prize.
Recent Examples on the Web Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation was an act of moral blackmail, and those who have lionized him want to see more such acts. Noah Rothman, National Review, 27 Feb. 2024 Turgenev was also one of the earliest Russian writers to be lionized by Westerners—not just by close friends like Flaubert but also by later figures (some of them expatriates themselves), such as Henry James and Joseph Conrad. The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 Meanwhile, Monica was once a young girl who similarly lionized Captain Marvel before becoming disillusioned. EW.com, 8 Nov. 2023 But Schiff’s leading role in the historic proceeding has become etched in the nation’s political psyche, lionizing him among fellow Democrats, demonizing him among Republicans and seeding his 2024 campaign for the U.S. Senate. Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2024 The group is widely lionized by the Bitcoin community, both for its legislative work and for its combative stance toward critics of the industry. Gabriel J.x. Dance, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2024 Sign up The point is not to lionize Haley, whose timidity in the face of Trump has made a weather vane seem like a model of principled constancy. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 31 Aug. 2023 The movies like to lionize stunt people, from the fugitive thriller The Stunt Man to Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to the upcoming big-screen reboot of The Fall Guy. Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2023 Nevertheless, Wakefield’s paper promoted an almost immediate plummet in MMR childhood vaccinations in Britain and its claim remains central to the anti-vax movement to this day — a movement that continues to lionize Wakefield, who now lives in the U.S., as a truth-teller. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2023

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.

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lionize was in 1809

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Cite this Entry

“Lionize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lionize. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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