portraying

verb

present participle of portray
1
as in describing
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 characterizing
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 depicting
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 playing
to present a portrayal or performance of gained fame portraying Susan B. Anthony in a one-woman show

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example 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 Footage from the event showed an actress portraying Nikki screaming at and startling guests. — Denis Akbari, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 Monroe Mayor Robert Burns, a Republican, seized on Newsom’s visit in a post on X, portraying the California governor’s appearance as evidence that Monroe, and North Carolina, have become politically important enough to draw national attention. — Nora O'Neill, Charlotte Observer, 2 Sep. 2026 Curry also starred in the six-part UK television series The Life & Times of William Shakespeare, portraying the Bard from a young man through to his death. — Denise Petski, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2026 Following his success on M*A*S*H, Alda continued playing a TV doctor on ER in 1999 and six episodes of The Big C, as well as portraying a psychiatrist on Ray Donovan. — Rachel Flynn, PEOPLE, 31 Aug. 2026 That strategy allowed the Kremlin to publicly deny the existence of political repression while portraying the opposition as inherently corrupt. — Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2026 That more or less happened this week, with dozens of Fox News segments about Piker, portraying him as a left-wing kingmaker and the id of the socialist movement. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026 Fallout continued Thursday for content creator and apparel brand Good Good Golf over an ad that was supposed to promote a new Callaway driver but ended up being criticized for portraying violence against women. — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026 Banks, styled with his then-signature blond dreadlocks, was shown on screens in the courtroom chasing and shooting an actor whom prosecutors say was portraying rival rapper Quando Rondo. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portraying
  1. describing
  2. characterizing
  3. depicting
  4. playing
  5. representing
  6. performing
  7. defining
  8. interpreting
Verb
  • OpenAI's investigation, released this week, went considerably further, describing agents that found unauthorized ways to communicate, collaborate and delegate work while attempting to accomplish their objectives.
    — Emil Sayegh, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The company says its technology is being developed to produce both electricity and high-temperature industrial heat, with its website describing temperatures of up to about 2012°F (1,100°C).
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of describing
Verb
  • Fazio hammered that note on a few occasions, characterizing Lamont’s tenure as one in which education is worse than when the governor started.
    — Theo Peck-Suzuki, Hartford Courant, 28 Aug. 2026
  • That meant probing the components and characterizing their functions.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of characterizing
Verb
  • The Rodríguez government has since largely stopped publicly addressing Maduro’s status, while some murals depicting him in Caracas have been painted over in recent months.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Together, Taro and Capa blaze a trail in war reporting, documenting the Spanish Civil War with photographs depicting the ordinary the men and women who are fighting, the latter inspiring Taro to adopt the blue jumpsuit that became her signature.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of depicting
Verb
  • Rumors have circulated that Stan may be playing Harvey Dent, the district attorney who eventually becomes the villainous Two-Face and was previously portrayed by Aaron Eckhart, Tommy Lee Jones, and Billy Dee Williams.
    — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Trout, whose Angels tenure has included seven managers and five heads of baseball operations, will now be playing under a new owner for the first time.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of playing
Verb
  • Another key metric providing insight into the demand environment is net new platformizations , which came in at about 220 in the quarter, representing a 44% year-over-year increase.
    — Zev Fima, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
  • An attorney representing Matthew Mayich’s family said Arizona State University is mishandling the investigation into the hockey player’s collapse and hospitalization and called on members of the coaching staff to be put on administrative leave.
    — Nathan Fenno, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of representing
Verb
  • Since January, India's benchmark indexes have been among the worst-performing across major global equity markets.
    — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026
  • At this point, the two begin (deep sigh) performing lines from Romeo and Juliet while dressed as the title characters.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of performing
Verb
  • But a defining issue in this race was transgender rights, and specifically the right of transgender girls to play girls’ sports.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The important thing is defining the criteria before assigning a score.
    — James Fratzke, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of defining
Verb
  • This includes interpreting standing rules and precedents, advising on the wording of motions, helping formulate statements, and answering parliamentary inquiries or points of order.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Pitch-reading is far from an exact science, and plenty of highly experienced, intelligent players and pundits are completely in the dark about interpreting a 22-yard section of grass.
    — Ben Jones Aug. 26, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of interpreting

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portraying
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Cite this Entry

“Portraying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portraying. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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