lionize
LY-uh-nize · verb
To treat someone as a celebrity or person of exceptional importance.
Memory connection
Picture “lion eyes”
Fans give a local helper glowing lion eyes, surround her with cameras, and celebrate her as though she were royalty.
The sound cue helps you reach the scene; the action in the scene carries you from the scene to the definition.
Use it accurately
Meaning in context
The documentary refuses to lionize its subject and examines his failures as well as his achievements.
After the championship, the press began to lionize the young goalkeeper.
Lionize often suggests that admiration has become excessive or uncritical. The person being celebrated is the direct object.
Common patterns
- lionized by the press
- begin to lionize
- refuse to lionize
Quick check
Can you retrieve the meaning?
What happens when the media lionizes an athlete?
Choose an answer, then explain it in your own words.