personification

[ per-son-uh-fi-key-shuhn ]

noun

1. the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions, especially as a rhetorical figure.
2. the representation of a thing or abstraction in the form of a person, as in art.
3. the person or thing embodying a quality or the like; an embodiment or incarnation:

   He is the personification of tact.

4. an imaginary person or creature conceived or figured to represent a thing or abstraction.
5. the act of personifying; the attributing of human qualities to an animal, object, or abstraction:

   The author's personification of the farm animals made for an enchanting children's book.

6. a character portrayal or representation in a dramatic or literary work.

personification

/ pɜːˌsɒnɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. the attribution of human characteristics to things, abstract ideas, etc, as for literary or artistic effect
2. the representation of an abstract quality or idea in the form of a person, creature, etc, as in art and literature
3. a person or thing that personifies
4. a person or thing regarded as an embodiment of a quality

   he is the personification of optimism

Other Words From

• per·soni·fi·cator noun
• nonper·soni·fi·cation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of personification¹

First recorded in 1745–55; personi(fy) + -fication

Example Sentences

In the historical scheme of things, Nidhogg was possibly the personification of the ever-present evil or chaotic force that seemed to affect and influence humans.

From Realm of History

Essentially, Eriu serves as the modern personification of Ireland.

From Realm of History

There may or may not be a Ouija board on the sideline to explain the team’s seeming allergy to ordinary outcomes, and every Friars game has somehow felt like the personification of Friar Dom’s sitting face.

From FiveThirtyEight

If anything, Sebastian seemed to be the personification of anxiety — an obsessive thought circling the mind on a loop.

From Washington Post

With “no-good dirty Commies” decommissioned since the 1990s, screenwriters and studio executives tried their best to find convincing personifications of pure evil that would not perpetuate noxious stereotypes or hoary cliches.

From Washington Post

Blues with a country beat, the fusion of black and white, had found its personification in Elvis.

From The Daily Beast

Throughout Fault in Our Stars, Gus is the personification of strength and confidence.

From The Daily Beast

In 1968, Ted Nugent was a lightning rod, a personification of transformational freedom.

From The Daily Beast

Quell is a feral creature; a personification of the Freudian id.

From The Daily Beast

Loud, overbearing, and unseemly, he is the very personification of the human id in a mock turtleneck and gold chain.

From The Daily Beast

Chaucer probably found this name precisely where he found his personification of Pity, viz.

From Project Gutenberg

I had at first thought it might be "rumorous eyes;" but the personification would then be wanting.

From Project Gutenberg

Cyrano, who put to flight one hundred men, could not be expected to fear a person, much less a personification.

From Project Gutenberg

Then she moved away to the music, an exquisite figure, the personification of all that was alluring in her sex.

From Project Gutenberg

While some are held up as models of virtue, others may be regarded as the very personification of evil.

From Project Gutenberg