portray

verb

por·​tray pȯr-ˈtrā 

pər-

portrayed; portraying; portrays

transitive verb

1

: to make a picture of : depict

2

a

: to describe in words

b

: to play the role of : enact

portrayer noun

Synonyms

• delineate
• depict
• describe
• draw
• image
• limn
• paint
• picture
• render
• set out
• sketch

Examples of portray in a Sentence

The White House has portrayed the President as deeply conflicted over the matter.

The lawyer portrayed his client as a victim of child abuse.

He portrayed himself as a victim.

The painting portrays the queen in a purple robe.

Laurence Olivier portrayed Hamlet beautifully.

Recent Examples on the Web

Call Me Izzy, written by Jamie Wax, opens June 12, and sees Smart portray the title character, a woman who lives in rural Louisiana and yearns to write, but is held back by her husband. —Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 12 June 2025

There had been speculative casting information about a new Season 3 series regular role of a sea captain in his 20s that could be who Richardson will portray. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 12 June 2025

In their sentencing papers, Madigan’s team has portrayed the former speaker as a stalwart defender of Illinois taxpayers against greedy utilities like ComEd, despite efforts to get some of his close associates work with the utility. —Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2025

The non-Cuomo alternative candidates have sometimes portrayed Mamdani as green and unrealistic. —David Weigel, semafor.com, 12 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English portraien, purtrayen, purtreyen "to draw, paint, depict, decorate, form a mental image of," borrowed from Anglo-French purtraire "to represent (in drawing, painting, etc.), depict, decorate, plan (also continental Old French pourtraire), from pur-, pour-, por-, prefix marking completion of an action (going back to Latin prō-, prefix denoting forward movement) + traire "to drag, pull, draw out, launch, shoot, trace, represent," going back to Latin trahere "to drag, draw, take along" — more at pro- entry 2, abstract entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for portray

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway
• beret

Kids Definition

portray

verb

por·​tray pōr-ˈtrā 

pȯr-

1

: to make a portrait of

2

a

: to describe in words

b

: to play the role of

portrayer noun