profile

Pluralprofiles

Formsprofiles, profiling, profiled

1. 1
   user pagenouncountable

   A user's personal record in a software or online system, such as a page showing information about them or their stored settings and preferences.

   Recruiters often check a candidate's profile before scheduling an interview.

   He deleted his social media profiles after the data breach.

   UsageThings appear on a profile: the photo on her profile; you create or update one.

   Similaraccount

   Note

   The internet's self-portrait is the page where users set out who they are, usually named for the platform, as in a Facebook profile. People update their own and browse other people's. Tommy Orange's There There (2018) has its narrator messaging strangers from his mother's profile. Unlike a compiled summary, which is often written by someone else, this kind is usually filled in by its owner and meant to be seen.

2. 2
   public attentionnounfigurativelyuncountable

   The degree of public attention, reputation, or prominence that a person or thing has.

   The merger raised the company's profile among investors.

   Activists worked to give the issue a national profile.

   UsageUsually a high profile or a low profile: keep a low profile, raise someone's profile.

   Similarprominence, visibility, reputation, standing, presence

   Oppositeobscurity, anonymity

   Note

   Low profile also has a literal life in the measure of protrusion, where a low-profile handle simply sticks out less. The figurative phrase borrows that picture of not standing out.

3. 3
   short biographynouncountable

   A compiled summary of information, especially a set of facts describing a particular person.

   The journalist wrote a detailed profile of the reclusive author.

   Investigators assembled psychological profiles of the missing hikers.

   UsageUsually a profile of someone: a profile of the new mayor.

   Similarportrait, sketch, biography, description, study

4. 4
   overall patternnouncountable or uncountable

   The character or totality of related characteristics, signature, or status of something, especially in scientific, technical, or military contexts.

   The mission profile called for two midair refueling stops.

   Analysts compared the chemical profile of each soil sample.

   UsageOften follows a noun or adjective identifying the type: flavor profile, mission profile, chemical profile.

   Similarsignature, makeup, composition, character

   Note

   Technical and military English use the word for a thing's whole set of characteristics, taken together as one signature. "What's the thermal profile on that thing?" shows the register. It is clipped and operational, and it asks what something gives off rather than what it looks like. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The illustrative question is reproduced accurately; no speaker is attributed. en.wiktionary.org
5. 5
   outer shapenouncountable

   The outline or contour of something as seen from one side, especially the side view of a person's face or head.

   The photographer shot her in profile, showing the line of her nose and chin.

   The aircraft's sleek profile reduces drag at high speeds.

   UsageIn profile means seen from the side: a portrait in profile.

   Similaroutline, silhouette, contour, shape

   Note

   The sense nearest the word's origin: French profil, from Italian profilo, "a border," built on Latin filum, "a thread." A profile is the line a thing draws against its background, which is why contour is its closest synonym. Use it for an edge you could trace with a finger, as around a handle. The same thread runs through file and through purfle, its doublet. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The outline or side-view sense is close to the word's original meaning. upload.wikimedia.org
   • Profile comes from French profil, from Italian profilo, meaning 'a border'. en.wiktionary.org
   • The word ultimately derives from Latin filum, meaning 'a thread'. en.wiktionary.org
   • File shares the Latin root filum, meaning 'thread'. en.wiktionary.org
   • Purfle derives from the same Latin elements and is a doublet of profile. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   describe (a person)verbtransitive

   To compile a summary or collection of information about a person or thing.

   Journalists regularly profile candidates ahead of major elections.

   The documentary profiled several survivors of the disaster.

   Similarfeature, portray, describe, spotlight, sketch

   Note

   Journalism's verb, though its object need not be a person. Warren Blumenfeld, writing in Gay Community News in 1984, describes a book profiling the lives of gay prisoners. Clarence Green and James Lambert (2018) write of a resource that profiles the language of secondary disciplines. The object can be a group, a life or a body of words, and the result is a compiled summary. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Warren Blumenfeld wrote in Gay Community News in 1984 about a book profiling gay prisoners' lives. The citation is dated April 7, 1984, page 11. en.wiktionary.org
   • Clarence Green and James Lambert's 2018 article discusses a resource that profiles the language of secondary disciplines. researchgate.net
7. 7
   height above surfacenoununcountable

   The extent to which something projects or sticks out from a surface.

   The architect favored door hinges with a minimal profile.

   Engineers reduced the antenna's profile to cut wind resistance.

   Similarprojection, protrusion

8. 8
   stereotypeverbtransitive

   To treat or single out a person according to a generalized stereotype, especially one based on race, ethnicity, or appearance.

   Critics argue that the policy encourages police to profile minorities.

   The store was sued for profiling shoppers based on ethnicity.

   UsageMost often as profiling, as in racial profiling; saying someone profiles others is usually an accusation.

   Similarstereotype, target

   Note

   Here the verb turns from describing to judging: a compiled picture becomes a reason to treat someone differently, especially when it rests on a stereotype.

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