portraying

present participle of portray
1
2
as in characterizing
to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group traditionally, European authors portrayed the natives as wise and noble

Synonyms & Similar Words

3
as in depicting
to present a picture of a landscape that portrays the scenery near the town where the painter grew up

Synonyms & Similar Words

4

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of portraying Elsewhere in his interview with the Sunday Times, Craig dismissed the idea that portraying a gay man while still leading the Bond franchise would have made a statement on masculinity. Michaela Zee, Variety, 8 Dec. 2024 Denzel is finally able to act out his one-time fantasy of portraying Jean-Jacques Dessalines in a movie about the Haitian revolution. Armond White, National Review, 6 Dec. 2024 This failure has eroded the Democratic brand, with right-wing media filling the void and portraying Democrats as out-of-touch elites. Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024 Norton can soon be seen portraying Pete Seeger in director James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown that stars Timothée Chalamet and hits theaters later this month. Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2024 In a July interview with Elle, Escola opened up about the transformative nature of portraying the famed first lady on stage. Raven Brunner, People.com, 3 Dec. 2024 Craig, 56, spoke to his experiences portraying the iconic British spy character during his appearance on the latest episode of The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast. Tommy McArdle, People.com, 3 Dec. 2024 The Gray Panthers ran a Media Watch that scolded television shows for portraying the elderly as helpless, confused, or decrepit. Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024 Together with Gracie Lawrence, portraying Kacey, the two are tasked with filling a Rapp-sized hole in The Sex Lives of College Girls. Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portraying
Verb
  • There’s also the corresponding Van Neumann bottleneck, describing limitations in transfer between the CPU and the memory.
    John Werner, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Penny did not testify, but several of his relatives, friends and fellow Marines did — describing him as an upstanding, patriotic and empathetic man.
    Jennifer Peltz, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • The campaign involves social media, digital content depicting large Madewell gift boxes atop landmarks around the city, and a New York Times insert appearing Sunday.
    David Moin, WWD, 10 Dec. 2024
  • The camera now floats just behind the character’s head, depicting work and home, love stories and painful reunions, fleeting observations and a reckoning with the past, as if from two points of view simultaneously—one visual and one spectral, bringing absence to life along with presence.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • However, with technology functions playing an increasingly integral role in business growth, other C-level roles have emerged to take on some of the responsibilities.
    Bernard Marr, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Sasaki knew that attempting to expedite his dream of playing in the major leagues would cost him an enormous amount of public goodwill.
    Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • The show was divided into ten distinct musical eras, each representing a different chapter of her discography.
    William Arruda, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The attorney representing the VII Group in the case did not respond to a request for comment.
    Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • What's your favorite part about just touring or performing live in general?
    Them, Them, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The spectacle will mark Bey’s first time performing since the release of her Billboard 200-topping album Cowboy Carter.
    Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • In this interview, Hunter reflects on the lessons learned from his past ventures and how his unique background has led him to launch another category defining brand.
    Dave Knox, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Start by defining clear work hours and turning off notifications after hours.
    Cindy Chia, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Textify Analytics simplifies finding specific data visualizations, interpreting complex information, and saving valuable time in decision-making.
    Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 7 Dec. 2024
  • BCIs generally focus on interpreting brain activity to enable communication or control using computational and signal-processing techniques.
    Maria Bolevich, Interesting Engineering, 7 Dec. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near portraying

Cite this Entry

“Portraying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portraying. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on portraying

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!