1
as in to describe
to give a representation or account of in words
the author portrays her characters with lifelike vividness
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to characterize
to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group
traditionally, European authors portrayed the natives as wise and noble
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3
as in to depict
to present a picture of
a landscape that portrays the scenery near the town where the painter grew up
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4
as in to play
to present a portrayal or performance of
gained fame portraying Susan B. Anthony in a one-woman show
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of portray
In Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas biopic, which is now streaming on Netflix, Jolie stepped into the shoes of the opera legend, portraying the final chapter of the singer's life in Paris leading up to her death in 1977.
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Bailey Richards, People.com, 8 Feb. 2025
Worst of all, many said, were the broadsides delivered by Mr. Musk and the White House portraying the agency as a rogue, criminal agency run by spendthrift officials pursuing their personal agendas.
—Declan Walsh, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2025
Davis portrayed Charlotte York, who, along with Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), were Carrie's besties on the HBO dramedy.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 7 Feb. 2025
James Norton has been tapped to portray Ormund Hightower in Season 3 of HBO‘s House of the Dragon, Deadline has learned.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for portray 
Bailey Richards, People.com, 8 Feb. 2025
Worst of all, many said, were the broadsides delivered by Mr. Musk and the White House portraying the agency as a rogue, criminal agency run by spendthrift officials pursuing their personal agendas.
—Declan Walsh, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2025
Davis portrayed Charlotte York, who, along with Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), were Carrie's besties on the HBO dramedy.
—Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 7 Feb. 2025
James Norton has been tapped to portray Ormund Hightower in Season 3 of HBO‘s House of the Dragon, Deadline has learned.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for portray
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portray
Verb
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Stephen Curry, for one night, returned to old Oracle Arena, where the soul lives on What one sentence describes your reaction to the Dončić-Lakers trade?—
Joe Vardon,
The Athletic,
18 Feb. 2025
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One colleague described it as the off-road Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which is a better comparison than any of the more obvious candidates.—
Charlie Roxburghe,
Robb Report,
18 Feb. 2025
Verb
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History of safety concerns Prosecutors and defense characterized the mother-son relationship as tumultuous, with law enforcement being called for domestic violence in November 2023, leading to the son’s arrest, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.—
Olivia Lloyd,
Miami Herald,
6 Feb. 2025
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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized the Israeli plan.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
6 Feb. 2025
Verb
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His film, a sweeping three-and-a-half-hour-long epic that depicts fictional architect László Tóth, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor starting over in the United States, has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN,
18 Feb. 2025
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Then again, a closer confluence between what’s depicted, and the revelation of its meaning, would’ve certainly yielded stronger and more visceral drama.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The Eagles and Chiefs played each other in the Super Bowl just two years ago, when both Jason, 37, and Travis, 35, competed with their respective teams in the 2023 game.—
Charlotte Phillipp,
People.com,
8 Feb. 2025
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The Chiefs, who are going for their third championship in a row, will play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.—
Neil Vigdor,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In addition to all that, Councilmember Traci Park, who represents Pacific Palisades, is heading up the City Council’s five-member ad hoc committee on wildfire recovery, which met for five hours Thursday to pore over rebuilding strategies.—
Julia Wick,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2025
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At the very least, social media is addictive and represents an opportunity cost compared to time that could be spent talking with friends, going outside or even reading a book.—
Rich Lowry,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Tests performed during the day confirmed the respiratory tract infection.—
Sophie Tanno,
CNN,
15 Feb. 2025
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Bloomberg notes how during previous demonstrations, Apple has showed Siri being able to perform personal assistant-style tasks such as quickly locating a user's flight and lunch reservation plans by accessing the iPhone's email and message history.—
Will McCurdy,
PCMAG,
15 Feb. 2025
Verb
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From Network Monitoring to Network Intelligence Network monitoring has historically been reactive: engineers sift through logs, interpret cryptic alerts, and manually trace the source of problems.—
Kyle J. Russell,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2025
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Pieter Mulier interpreted American beauty as simple and modern, a vision perfectly reflected in this sandal silhouette.—
Talia Abbas,
Vogue,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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But descendants felt the admission was a first step; now, what would the Jesuits do about it?—
Marc Ramirez,
USA TODAY,
17 Feb. 2025
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What is clear is that the offseason is now over, spring training is underway and the Yankees have done nothing to replace Torres.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
17 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near portray
Cite this Entry
“Portray.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portray. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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