PORTRAYING Synonyms: 99 Similar and Opposite Words

portraying

verb

present participle of portray

as in describing

to give a representation or account of in words the author portrays her characters with lifelike vividness

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in characterizing

to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group traditionally, European authors portrayed the natives as wise and noble

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as in depicting

to present a picture of a landscape that portrays the scenery near the town where the painter grew up

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as in playing

to present a portrayal or performance of gained fame portraying Susan B. Anthony in a one-woman show

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of portraying Arnault accused the newspaper—which is largely owned by the partner of Arnault’s daughter—of portraying other wealthy families in a more favorable light. — Danielle Chemtob, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026 In these quick watches, creators must provide the most entertaining segments of a debate, usually portraying clips of jarring language and rhetoric. — Vriti Shah, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 July 2026 In the video, Atim speaks over clips of women protesting, and flashes of her portraying Akasha. — Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 24 July 2026 After portraying Sharon Gaines in the movie, Britton returned to the franchise as a variation of her movie character, Tami Taylor, who was the wife of Dillon coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler). — Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 22 July 2026 Charlize Theron, portraying the immortal nymph Calypso, offered perhaps the most understated interpretation of method dressing. — Alex Badia, Footwear News, 21 July 2026 Sayed then shifted the conversation to financial support for Israel, portraying his objections as a common-sense opposition to using tax dollars on anyone but Americans. — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 19 July 2026 Athena Bitzis, now 54, of Stone Mountain, performed in the opening ceremony, portraying one of the muses in a segment honoring the ancient origins of the Olympic movement. — Andrea Clement, AJC.com, 17 July 2026 While Nolan does a tremendous job portraying the Underworld (Hades), the omission of this warning and plotline misses the depth Penelope deserves. — Jon Root Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for portraying

Verb

The framework's own repository is blunt about its limits, describing its controls as defense-in-depth rather than true containment.

— Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Fuldauer said the insurance industry needs to become a resilience partner for society, describing public-private partnerships as key to success in this area.

— Sam Meredith, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of describing

Verb

Low testosterone is a common feature of Operator Syndrome, a medical phenomenon characterizing the unique stresses of being in the military, which doctors are now seeking to understand.

— Dominique Mosbergen, Time, 17 July 2026
After characterizing the nature of the asteroid, Tianwen-2 will attempt to gather samples.

— Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 6 July 2026

Definition of characterizing

Verb

The backstory La Playa was built in 1905 by landscape painter Chris Jorgensen (he's known for his work depicting California landscapes; a number of his paintings are displayed at the property) for his wife, chocolate heiress Angela Ghirardelli.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 July 2026
Three traditional Chinese flower-and-bird paintings, ancient ceramic fragments depicting the magnolia, and works by a local paper flower maker helped set the scene.

— Denni Hu, Footwear News, 30 July 2026

Definition of depicting

Verb

Even with their side trip to Utah, Memphis had four of the top seven players in minutes in Vegas, helped by playing a sixth game in the championship.

— John Hollinger, New York Times, 22 July 2026
Only the two teams that make the championship game playing a sixth game, but the Heat is likely out of the mix for the championship game with two losses in Las Vegas.

— Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026

Definition of playing

Verb

No lawyers were listed in court documents as representing him, and the public defender for the area did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

— Dennis Romero, NBC news, 22 July 2026
Our expert panel consisted of roughly three dozen coaches, general managers, personnel directors, scouts and front office staffers across the country, representing every conference.

— Antonio Morales, New York Times, 21 July 2026

Definition of representing

Verb

For a guy used to the warmth of an arena crowd, Pragiwaksono romanticizes open mics, those awkward showcases of aspiring comics performing largely in front of other aspiring comics.

— Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 30 July 2026
Outside, there will be giveaways, inflatables, DJs and local mascots and cheerleaders performing.

— Elizabeth Green, AJC.com, 30 July 2026

Definition of performing

Verb

The ultimate Cape Cod movie, Jaws was first released that year and became a defining cultural moment of summer 1975, while Violent City was a favorite of Bourdain’s, its Ennio Morricone title track in high rotation on his cooking playlists.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2026
The 2026 season’s defining commercial event was the sale of two franchises.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 29 July 2026

Definition of defining

Verb

The native vision capability in Kimi K3 enables visual-to-code generation and supports real-world software engineering tasks that require interpreting screenshots and visual layouts.

— Gerui Wang, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
The repetition of spotting weak arguments in a memo, interpreting ambiguous data, and anticipating stakeholder’s concerns, built judgment.

— Marlo Lyons, Harvard Business Review, 24 July 2026

Definition of interpreting

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portrayed

portraying

portrays

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“Portraying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portraying. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of portraying

verb

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