portrayed; portraying; portrays
1
: to make a picture of : depict
2
a
: to describe in a particular way
The article portrayed the president as confident.
b
: to play the role of : enact
portrays the hero in the film
portrayer
noun
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
Arnold, meanwhile, portrayed Pamela James on all five seasons of Martin, which aired from 1992 to 1997.
—
Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Jan. 2026
Kolitz’s ethnography, crucially, does not portray gooners as some freakishly niche cohort operating at the outer edges of society.
—Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 14 Jan. 2026
Good, a mother of three, has been portrayed by government officials as a domestic terrorist who tried to run down an agent with her vehicle.
—Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2026
On Tuesday, the Senate voted to pass the DEFIANCE Act, a bill that would allow people who were portrayed against their wishes in explicit, deepfake images to sue companies making or distributing such content, in civil court.
—Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 14 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for portray
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Cite this Entry
“Portray.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portray. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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
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