DictionaryAI

portraying

verb
USpor-TRAY-ing/pɔɹˈtɹeɪɪŋ/Saypaw-TRAY-ingUK/pɔːˈtɹeɪɪŋ/AUS/poːˈtɹæɪɪŋ/

1 meaning of portraying

Practice

  1. 1
    verb
    Present participle and gerund of portray.

    Critics praised her for portraying the queen with surprising depth.

    The novel succeeds by portraying ordinary working life in vivid detail.

    Note

    One -ing form does two jobs here. It is a verb in the progressive (she is portraying the queen) and a noun heading a phrase (portraying grief convincingly is hard). Either way it takes a direct object and carries every living meaning of portray: drawing a likeness, describing in words, playing a role. The old sense "to adorn" is obsolete, so portraying today always means representing something.

portraying is a form of portray

portray, verb: To act out a role, or to depict a character, person, situation, or event in a performance or work. Full entry

Forms
portrayportrays he/she/itportraying -ing formportrayed past tense, past participle
Spelling
portray → portraying: add -ing

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