PORTRAY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Portray

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/pɔrtrˈeɪ/ Listen

verb

Portray v. t. (past & past part. portrayed; pres. part. portraying) (Written also pourtray)

To paint or draw the likeness of; as, to portray a king on horseback. "Take a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem."

Hence, figuratively, to describe in words.

To adorn with pictures. (R.) "Spear and helmets thronged, and shields Various with boastful arguments potrayed."

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Etymology of 'Portray'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Portray" Quotes from Famous Books

... little repast was over, she rested her head upon her hands, and from her soul went forth a prayer for guidance and protection,—more deep and earnest than words can portray. ...

— Dawn • Mrs. Harriet A. Adams

... all the Evangelists, was best qualified to do justice to this matchless picture. Baptized himself with the spirit of love, his inspired pencil could best portray the lights and shadows in this lovely and loving household. Pre-eminently like his Lord, he could best delineate the scene of all others where the tenderness of that tender Saviour shone most conspicuous. He was the disciple who had leant ...

— Memories of Bethany • John Ross Macduff

... this section of Whitman's work soon discovers that it is not the purpose of the poet to portray battles and campaigns, or to celebrate special leaders or military prowess, but rather to chant the human aspects of anguish that follow in the train of war. He perhaps feels that the permanent condition of modern society is that of peace; that war as a business, ...

— Whitman - A Study • John Burroughs

... accountability for sin if it does not wholly excuse him as the victim of heredity, environment or society. Literature also, as reflected not only in the Greek tragedies but in the writings of authors from Shakespeare to Shaw portray the evil doer as the ...

— Dante: "The Central Man of All the World" • John T. Slattery

... a reflection similar to what is entertained by one who has dropped from a precipice to the midway ledge over the abyss, where caution of the whole sensitive being is required for simple self-preservation. How could she have been induced to study and portray him! It seemed a form ...

— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

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