deify

English

WOTD – 19 August 2007

Etymology

From French déifier, from Latin deificāre, from deus (“god”). By surface analysis, deity +‎ -ify.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdeɪ.ɪ.faɪ/, /ˈdiː.ɪ.faɪ/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈdiː.ə.faɪ/, /ˈdeɪ.ə.faɪ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)

Verb

deify (third-person singular simple present deifies, present participle deifying, simple past and past participle deified)

  1. (transitive) To make into a god.
    Synonyms: divinize, apotheosize, euhemerize (mythologizing sense)
    Antonyms: undeify, disdeify, ungod, euhemerize (demythologizing sense)
    Hyponym: redeify
    Near-synonyms: demideify, mythologize
  2. (transitive) To regard as being like a deity; to treat as worthy of worship; to exalt.
    Synonyms: divinize, apotheosize, exalt, idealize
    • 2025 May 26, Eva Corlett, quoting Shane Jones, “New Zealand will not be ‘guilt-tripped’ over environment, resources minister says”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 October 2026:
      “Those people who have sought to deify our wilderness … those days are over. We are not going to sit around and read poetry to rare lizards, whilst our current account deficit goes down the gurgler,” Jones said.

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