typify

verb

typ·​i·​fy ˈti-pə-ˌfī How to pronounce typify (audio)
typified; typifying

transitive verb

1
: to represent in typical fashion : to constitute a typical mark or instance of
realism … that typified his earlier workCurrent Biography
2
: to embody the essential or salient characteristics of : be the type of
typification noun

Examples of typify in a Sentence

His heroic actions typified the courage of all the firefighters at the scene. The decor typifies the elegance of royal residences. He typifies what a professional athlete should be. Gothic architecture is typified by soaring rooflines and stained glass.
Recent Examples on the Web Two directors — one florid, one discrete — typified Paramount in peak form: the authentically Viennese but bogus aristocrat Josef von Sternberg and the brilliant comedian of manners, Ernst Lubitsch. Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Feb. 2024 One of the most memorable moments of the tournament is now proudly etched into Saudi sporting history with a single result that has typified much of the nation’s sporting progress in recent years. Saudi Delegation To The World Economic Forum, USA TODAY, 16 Jan. 2024 The Interpretive physician-patient model (4) The Deliberative physician-patient model Those four models largely continue today as a means of typifying the doctor-patient relationship. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024 Venable avoids falling into the wolfish smarm that typifies the shopping-show genre. Hal Sundt, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2024 Ferrari opens with a sequence that typifies many of Mann’s later works: a faux-aged, digital image of Driver as the young Enzo, fearlessly piloting an early model race car. John Semley, WIRED, 22 Dec. 2023 Yet his unauthorized bombing of Yemen — like his Red Sea battle and bombings of Iraq, Syria and Somalia — typifies tyranny. Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2024 Most Pride celebrations are typified by summertime parties and parades, save for a few lingering fall festivities that tend to take place in warmer cities like Orlando and Austin. Matt Kirouac, Travel + Leisure, 2 Jan. 2024 The steppe restoration typifies what historians call the global turn, a larger project of shifting histories away from nation-states and colonialist defamation and toward the peoples and processes that have knotted us together. Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 25 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'typify.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1622, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of typify was in 1622

Dictionary Entries Near typify

Cite this Entry

“Typify.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/typify. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

typify

verb
typ·​i·​fy ˈtip-ə-ˌfī How to pronounce typify (audio)
typified; typifying
1
2
: to have or include the special or main characteristics of

More from Merriam-Webster on typify

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