por ‧ tray /pɔːˈtreɪ $ pɔːr-/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: portraire , from Latin protrahere 'to draw out, show' ]
1 . portray somebody/something as something to describe or show someone or something in a particular way, according to your opinion of them SYN depict :
Romantic artists portrayed nature as wild and powerful.
The President likes to portray himself as a friend of working people.
2 . to describe or represent something or someone SYN depict :
His most famous painting portrayed the death of Nelson.
Religion was portrayed in a negative way.
3 . to act the part of a character in a play, film, or television programme SYN play :
She portrays a dancer in the hit film.
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THESAURUS
▪ describe to talk or write about a person, place, event etc, in order to show what they are like:
Could you try and describe the man you saw?
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In her book, she describes her journey across the Sahara.
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Police described the attack as particularly violent.
▪ tell somebody about somebody/something to describe someone or something to someone. This phrase is more commonly used than describe in everyday spoken English:
So, tell me about your holiday!
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My friends have told me all about you!
▪ depict formal to describe someone or something in a piece of writing:
His stories depict life in Trinidad as seen through the eyes of a young boy.
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In this new biography she is depicted as a lonely and unhappy woman.
▪ portray/represent formal to describe someone or something in a particular way:
College teachers are often represented on television shows as slightly eccentric.
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The magazine has been criticized for the way it portrays women.
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The treatment has been portrayed as a painless way of curing cancer, which is simply not true.
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Police have represented her as a willing participant in the crimes.
▪ characterize somebody/something as something formal to describe someone or something by emphasizing one particular quality or feature about them:
He characterized himself as ‘an average American’.
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The successful schools were characterized as innovative and creative.
▪ paint somebody/something as something to describe someone or something, especially in a way that makes people believe something that is not true:
Not all young people are as bad as they’re painted in the press.
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We won, yet the media is painting it as a victory for our opponents.
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The woman was painted as having only a slight grasp of reality.
▪ paint a picture to describe a situation, so that people can get a general idea of what it is like:
Can you paint a picture of life in Japan for us?
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My uncle’s letters generally painted a rosy picture of how things were.
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The report painted a bleak picture of the management’s failures.