to deify

Examples

• All

• Third, the American practice of deifying and demonizing political leaders, movements, and ideologies is not a long-term solution.

  Academic text (1992)

• Unfortunately, conductors are not only excused but sometimes deified when they exhibit these behaviors.

  Academic text (2002)

• I really doubt that any of us deify the nation of India.

  Blog text (16)

• I think sometimes we tend to deify historical figures, which in a sense kind of dehumanizes them.

  Blog text (23)

• Maybe it's human beings that have been deified and made into God.

• I don't think anybody will deify Kennedy.

  The Man from Earth (2007)

• Part of the glorification of youth that Colin talks about is the way we deify the first few dreams we had as children.

• The people I talked to certainly didn't deify him, and many of them despised him.

  END:CIV (2011)

• Though not all new nations have deified their founding fathers before they were interred, as was the case with Washington.

  Academic text (1997)

• Because he had a special charm for invoking the thunderstorm, he was deified and identified with that phenomenon after his death.

  Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

W

to worship

vsto deify

106 3.4

To admire someone very much, often without thinking about their faults

often implies treating as a god or extreme idealization rather than simple respect

G

to glorify

vsto deify

86 5.2

To make a person or thing seem better and more important than they really are

is stronger implying actual worship or divine elevation rather than praise alone

I

to idolize

vsto deify

• US

42 4.9

Admire someone very much, often ignoring their faults

adds the sense of worship or divine status beyond mere admiration

I

to idealize

vsto deify

14 5.8

To think someone or something is more perfect than they really are

focuses more on worship or godlike treatment rather than simple perfection

H

to hero-worship

vsto deify

1 6.5

Admire someone so much that you think they are perfect

is broader covering religious-like worship not only hero admiration

D

to divinize

vsto deify

• Formal

1 9.9

To make someone or something into a god

focuses on ordinary worship or excessive admiration rather than literal elevation

A

to apotheosize

vsto deify

• Literature

9.9

To make someone seem like a god or without faults

is used more broadly for general worship or strong idealization

I

to idolatrize

vsto deify

• US

9.9

To admire someone too much and ignore their faults

is less about ritual godmaking and more about strong admiration or idealizing

Antonyms

D

to despise

192 4.9

To strongly dislike and have no respect for someone or something

How Revered

to deify

7 8.4

to worship

169 4.2

to venerate

• Formal

11 7.4

to admire

743 1.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology