deify

We build monuments and deify leaders in an effort to transcend our mortality.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 28, 2022

It’s a fascinating exploration of the paradoxes of humanity’s religious instincts — and the power of followers to deify flawed mortals against their will.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2022

Why can’t Americans come to terms with our racist past without feeling compelled to demonize those we used to deify?

From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2020

But something happens when women become superheroes in earnest, as though it’s impossible to deify them without the hallmark of traditional femininity, the comic equivalent of Breck Girls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2018

Man’s subliminal urge to destroy what he could neither subdue nor deify.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

In a culture that deifies celebrities, Williams remains one whose memory is often invoked with affectionate nostalgia, accompanied by some of his better movie quotes, or from one of his stand-up sets.

From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2023

While Butler humanizes Elvis, Luhrmann deifies him and argues that he possessed far more radical potential, both musically and politically, than he was allowed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2022

Gebru said the way the tech industry is covered by the media, which to her deifies tech leaders, helps shield tech companies from scrutiny.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 15, 2021

“Some men she extols, exalts, and almost deifies; others, whose virtues are far greater, and whose characters are more deserving of commendation, she passes by unheeded, and puts the finger of silence on her lips.”

From Washington Times ● Sep. 16, 2020

Christianity is that religion which neither deifies nor destroys nature.

From History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology by J. F. (John Fletcher) Hurst

His manager deified his name, claiming he had just unleashed one of the greatest bullpen performances in baseball history.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

Ronald Reagan, who was once deified by American conservatives, saw his approval ratings plummet from 63% to 47% in December 1986 following news of the Iran-Contra scandal.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2025

The themes of performances at Mr Gopalakrishnan's house include honouring a deified ancestor, venerating a warrior-hunter deity, and worshipping tiger spirits symbolising strength and protection.

From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024

For some Kānaka Maoli with genealogical ties to the volcano goddess Pele as a deified ancestor, an eruption is something to be accepted, possibly even celebrated.

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

Quirinus was the name of the deified Romulus, the founder of Rome.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

“They are not perfect. They are not perfect. We have to stop deifying them,” Mr. Lemon said.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 9, 2020

It acts as a deifying diptych to that of The Epic – from space to the earthly pursuit of heaven.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 21, 2019

One is a pitch-dark, but also visually cute, animated series that has perfected, by not deifying or lauding, the antihero, who this season was even more explicitly shown to be a #MeToo creep.

From Slate ● Dec. 15, 2018

If it's not Mozart then please stop deifying these men.

From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2018

Homer says, They were in the beginning generated from the waters of the ocean, and thousands were added by deifying departed heroes and philosophers.

From The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, April, 1880 by Aaron Walker