lionize
verb
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Across time and across cultures—as evidenced from Chauvet-Pont d’Arc’s paintings to The Lion King—lions have captured people’s imaginations. Though the big cats themselves are fascinatingly complex, it’s perhaps no surprise that humans have long projected qualities of bravery and regality upon the proverbial “king of the beasts.” It is precisely those and similar admirable qualities that led, in the 18th century, to lion being used for a person who is similarly well-regarded, especially after a long and distinguished career in a particular field, as in “lion of the Senate,” or “literary lion.” This sense of lion imbues the verb lionize, which first appeared in English in the early 19th century to apply to acts of treating someone as, perhaps, deserving of roaring applause.
Examples of lionize in a Sentence
Tim Ryan, Newsweek, 17 Dec. 2024
Kavanaugh denied the allegations and, thanks to Trump and the Senate’s Republican majority, he was lionized on the right as a victim of a movement run amok.
—Jackie Calmes, The Mercury News, 13 Dec. 2024
Leading Democrats criticized Donalds’ statement as lionizing the Jim Crow era.
—Louis Jacobson and Samantha Putterman, Austin American-Statesman, 13 June 2024
The architect of the United Nations is both lionized and reviled for his internationalist stance.
—David Plazas, The Tennessean, 20 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lionize 
Dictionary Entries Near lionize
Cite this Entry
“Lionize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lionize. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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