(~s, lionizing, ~d)
Note: in BRIT, also use 'lionise'
If someone is ~d, they are treated as if they are very important or special by a particular group of people, often when they do not really deserve to be. (FORMAL)
By the 1920’s, he was lionised by literary London...
The press began to ~ him enthusiastically...
In 1936, Max Schmeling had been lionised as boxing’s great hope.
VERB: be V-ed, V n, be V-ed as n