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View synonyms for

dignify

[dig-nuh-fahy]

verb (used with object)

dignified, dignifying 
  1. to confer honor or dignity upon; honor; ennoble.

  2. to give a high-sounding title or name to; confer unmerited distinction upon.

    to dignify pedantry by calling it scholarship.



dignify

/ ˈɪɡɪˌڲɪ /

verb

  1. to invest with honour or dignity; ennoble

  2. to add distinction to

    the meeting was dignified by the minister

  3. to add a semblance of dignity to, esp by the use of a pretentious name or title

    she dignifies every plant with its Latin name

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Word Forms

  • overdignify verb (used with object)
  • quasi-dignifying adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dignify1

1375–1425; late Middle English dignifien < Old French dignefier < Medieval Latin 徱Ծھ, equivalent to Latin dign ( us ) worthy + -ify
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dignify1

C15: from Old French dignifier, from Late Latin 徱Ծھ, from Latin dignus worthy + facere to make
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Randall name-checks philosophers — Hegel, Kant, Nietzsche, Plato, Marcus Aurelius — he misunderstands to his advantage and drops references to the Catiline Conspiracy and the Battle of Actium to make base actions sound important and dignified.

From

“And just seeing you, as an actor, and parts you play ... But also, you have this very dignified quality about you.”

From

The new campus replaces a creaky, 1930s-era school with a dignified facade and bell tower.

From

And, in the act of gathering the tools to give that person a dignified end, could they learn to welcome death as an expansion of life?

From

Mr Wilson, 75, who has homes in London and Nottingham, supports the idea of assisted dying and says the proposed changes in law would have given his wife a more "dignified" death.

From

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dignifieddignitary