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embody

/əmˈbɑdi/

/ɛmˈbɒdi/

Other forms: embodied; embodies; embodying

To embody a role is to fill it completely. If a high schooler seems to embody the character of Macbeth, his performance might make the audience forget they're watching a dorky 15-year-old with braces.

If you embody someone, you put him or her "in-body," as when an actor gives a complete and compelling representation of a character. You can also use embody to describe character traits you see in a person, like, “He embodies truth,” or, “She is the embodiment of goodness.”

Definitions of embody
  1. verb
    represent in bodily form
    “He embodies all that is evil wrong with the system”
    synonyms: body forth, incarnate, substantiate
    see moresee less
    type of:
    be
    have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
  2. verb
    represent, as of a character on stage
    synonyms: be, personify
    see moresee less
    types:
    body, personify
    invest with or as with a body; give body to
    exemplify, represent
    be characteristic of
    type of:
    emblematize, represent, stand for, symbolise, symbolize, typify
    express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol
  3. verb
    represent or express something abstract in tangible form
    “This painting embodies the feelings of the Romantic period”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    represent
    serve as a means of expressing something
Pronunciation
US

/əmˈbɑdi/

UK

/ɛmˈbɒdi/

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