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

Other elements add more layers, including Cross getting ensnared in a Black Lives Matter protest and having Alex face a real freak of a nemesis, portrayed with depraved confidence by Ryan Eggold. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024

Storied actor Denzel Washington has taken on the project of adapting August Wilson’s cycle of 10 plays that portray slices of Black life in each decade of the 1900s. —Ronda Racha Penrice, NBC News, 9 Nov. 2024

This means that when AI gives you an answer that the AI portrays for example as fully aboveboard and hunky-dory, the reality is that the response is bound to be a lot shakier than you are being led to believe. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

In ancient Egyptian art, Apophis was frequently portrayed as a massive serpent, embodying chaos and darkness. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

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

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