Personification
noun
The act of giving human features or qualities to non-human things.
In the story, the sun smiled down on the city, which is an example of personification.
Often appears as...
- personification of nature
- personification in literature
Usage tips
Literary
noun
A person who perfectly shows a particular quality.
The champion athlete is the personification of strength and resilience.
Often appears as...
- personification of courage
- personification of beauty
noun
A figure of speech where human qualities are given to ideas, objects or animals.
In the poem, the wind howled in the night, an example of personification.
Often appears as...
- personification in poetry
- rhetorical personification
Usage tips
Academic
noun
The act of giving human features or qualities to non-human things.
In the story, the sun smiled down on the city, which is an example of personification.
Often appears as...
- personification of nature
- personification in literature
Usage tips
Literary
noun
A person who perfectly shows a particular quality.
The champion athlete is the personification of strength and resilience.
Often appears as...
- personification of courage
- personification of beauty
noun
A figure of speech where human qualities are given to ideas, objects or animals.
In the poem, the wind howled in the night, an example of personification.
Often appears as...
- personification in poetry
- rhetorical personification
Usage tips
Academic
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Creative Expression
Personification can make descriptions more vivid and engaging in storytelling.
The thunder grumbled like an old man.
Pro Tip 2/3Imagery Enhancement
Using personification can create strong imagery and help readers visualize scenes better.
The car engine coughed before starting.
Pro Tip 3/3Emotion Evoking
Personification often evokes emotions by attributing human feelings to inanimate objects.
The old house groaned under the weight of the snow.
Pro Tip 1/3Creative Expression
Personification can make descriptions more vivid and engaging in storytelling.
The thunder grumbled like an old man.
Pro Tip 2/3Imagery Enhancement
Using personification can create strong imagery and help readers visualize scenes better.
The car engine coughed before starting.
Pro Tip 3/3Emotion Evoking
Personification often evokes emotions by attributing human feelings to inanimate objects.
The old house groaned under the weight of the snow.
Pro Tip 1/3Creative Expression
Personification can make descriptions more vivid and engaging in storytelling.
The thunder grumbled like an old man.
Pro Tip 2/3Imagery Enhancement
Using personification can create strong imagery and help readers visualize scenes better.
The car engine coughed before starting.
Pro Tip 3/3Emotion Evoking
Personification often evokes emotions by attributing human feelings to inanimate objects.
The old house groaned under the weight of the snow.
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Video examples
Beau Lotto + Amy...
She was one of the young people who was involved in this study, and she's now one of the youngest published scientists in the world. Right? She will now, once she comes onto stage, will be the youngest person to ever speak at TED. Right? Now, science and asking questions is about courage. Now she is the personification of courage, because she's
Video examples
How Amazon, Apple,...
I thought that'd be funnier. We've personified these companies, and just as when you're really angry over every little thing someone does in your life and relationships, you've got to ask yourself, "What's going on here? Why are we so disappointed in technology?"
Video examples
Why we have an emotional...
Now, what would cause a hardened military officer and someone like myself to have this response to robots? Well, of course, we're primed by science fiction and pop culture to really want to personify these things, but it goes a little bit deeper than that.
Video examples
Why the universe seems...
The reason we personify things like cars and computers is that just as monkeys live in an arboreal world and moles live in an underground world and water striders live in a surface tension-dominated flatland, we live in a social world.
Video examples
The real meaning of soul...
they're the personification of soul music however bitter they're experienced they're not ruled by fear or by resentment they reach out into the world instead of being guarded against it they're open to it could we think then
Video examples
Bruce Schneier: The...
One example would people fear kidnapping by strangers, when the data supports that kidnapping by relatives is much more common. This is for children. Third, personified risks are perceived to be greater
Video examples
The security mirage -...
example would be people fear kidnapping by strangers when the data supports kidnapping by relatives is much more common this is for children third personified risks are perceived to
Video examples
Why should you read...
This monologue personifies Hamlet’s existential being torn between thought and action, unable to choose between life and death. But his endless questioning raises yet another
Video examples
Lions PIPE Crittercam
impoverished place of there weren't large predators world without wilderness and wildness and personified by these big predators simply wouldn't be worth living in
Video examples
Is Humanity Inherently...
personifies evil and you just said why did you do these things and he would say that just got like I'm not beyond that I don't know now
Video examples
Beau Lotto + Amy...
She was one of the young people who was involved in this study, and she's now one of the youngest published scientists in the world. Right? She will now, once she comes onto stage, will be the youngest person to ever speak at TED. Right? Now, science and asking questions is about courage. Now she is the personification of courage, because she's
Video examples
How Amazon, Apple,...
I thought that'd be funnier. We've personified these companies, and just as when you're really angry over every little thing someone does in your life and relationships, you've got to ask yourself, "What's going on here? Why are we so disappointed in technology?"
Video examples
Why we have an emotional...
Now, what would cause a hardened military officer and someone like myself to have this response to robots? Well, of course, we're primed by science fiction and pop culture to really want to personify these things, but it goes a little bit deeper than that.
Video examples
Why the universe seems...
The reason we personify things like cars and computers is that just as monkeys live in an arboreal world and moles live in an underground world and water striders live in a surface tension-dominated flatland, we live in a social world.
Video examples
The real meaning of soul...
they're the personification of soul music however bitter they're experienced they're not ruled by fear or by resentment they reach out into the world instead of being guarded against it they're open to it could we think then
Video examples
Bruce Schneier: The...
One example would people fear kidnapping by strangers, when the data supports that kidnapping by relatives is much more common. This is for children. Third, personified risks are perceived to be greater
Video examples
The security mirage -...
example would be people fear kidnapping by strangers when the data supports kidnapping by relatives is much more common this is for children third personified risks are perceived to
Video examples
Why should you read...
This monologue personifies Hamlet’s existential being torn between thought and action, unable to choose between life and death. But his endless questioning raises yet another
Video examples
Lions PIPE Crittercam
impoverished place of there weren't large predators world without wilderness and wildness and personified by these big predators simply wouldn't be worth living in
Video examples
Is Humanity Inherently...
personifies evil and you just said why did you do these things and he would say that just got like I'm not beyond that I don't know now
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Louis Pasteur
French Scientist
Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.
Quote examples
Peter Abrahams
South African Novelist
Tribal man is not an individual in the western sense. Psychologically and emotionally, he is the present living personification of a number of forces, among the most important of which are the ancestral dead.
Quote examples
Ann Reinking
American Actress
Dancing is the personification of music, and music is an abstract expression of the human spirit. But still it's the act of communication, of making one feel. Otherwise it would just be gymnastics.
Quote examples
Nana Patekar
Indian Actor
Pu La was like a father figure to people of my generation. I thank him for the characters his literary works offered us. They personify full-fledged human beings and have always given me company.
Quote examples
Joe Buck
American Celebrity
Pat Summerall personified less is more. His play-by-play was so bare bones but so great because he had a great, deep-toned voice.
Quote examples
Stephen Gardiner
British Architect
The interior of the house personifies the private world; the exterior of it is part of the outside world.
Quote examples
Tom G. Palmer
American Educator
Group personification obscures, rather than illuminates, important political questions.
Quote examples
Russell M. Nelson
American Clergyman
A worthy woman personifies the truly noble and worthwhile attributes of life.
Quote examples
Joan Crawford
American Actress
It has been said that on screen I personified the American woman.
Quote examples
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
American Musician
The story of my life is the Chicano experience personified.
Quote examples
Louis Pasteur
French Scientist
Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.
Quote examples
Peter Abrahams
South African Novelist
Tribal man is not an individual in the western sense. Psychologically and emotionally, he is the present living personification of a number of forces, among the most important of which are the ancestral dead.
Quote examples
Ann Reinking
American Actress
Dancing is the personification of music, and music is an abstract expression of the human spirit. But still it's the act of communication, of making one feel. Otherwise it would just be gymnastics.
Quote examples
Nana Patekar
Indian Actor
Pu La was like a father figure to people of my generation. I thank him for the characters his literary works offered us. They personify full-fledged human beings and have always given me company.
Quote examples
Joe Buck
American Celebrity
Pat Summerall personified less is more. His play-by-play was so bare bones but so great because he had a great, deep-toned voice.
Quote examples
Stephen Gardiner
British Architect
The interior of the house personifies the private world; the exterior of it is part of the outside world.
Quote examples
Tom G. Palmer
American Educator
Group personification obscures, rather than illuminates, important political questions.
Quote examples
Russell M. Nelson
American Clergyman
A worthy woman personifies the truly noble and worthwhile attributes of life.
Quote examples
Joan Crawford
American Actress
It has been said that on screen I personified the American woman.
Quote examples
Cedric Bixler-Zavala
American Musician
The story of my life is the Chicano experience personified.
Example 1 of 10
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