EPITOMISE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does epitomise mean? 

• EPITOMISE (verb)
  The verb EPITOMISE has 1 sense:

1. embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of

  Familiarity information: EPITOMISE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EPITOMISE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they epitomise    ... he / she / it epitomises   
Past simple: epitomised   
Past participle: epitomised   
-ing form: epitomising   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Embody the essential characteristics of or be a typical example of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

epitomise; epitomize; typify

Context example:

The fugue typifies Bach's style of composition

Hypernyms (to "epitomise" is one way to...):

represent; stand for; symbolise; symbolize; typify (express indirectly by an image, form, or model; be a symbol)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

epitome (a standard or typical example)

epitome (a brief abstract (as of an article or book))

 Context examples 

Had the cub thought in man-fashion, he might have epitomised life as a voracious appetite and the world as a place wherein ranged a multitude of appetites, pursuing and being pursued, hunting and being hunted, eating and being eaten, all in blindness and confusion, with violence and disorder, a chaos of gluttony and slaughter, ruled over by chance, merciless, planless, endless.

(White Fang, by Jack London)