Library / English Dictionary

DIGNIFY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: dignified   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Raise the status of

Example:

I shall not dignify this insensitive remark with an answer

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "dignify" is one way to...):

elevate; lift; raise (raise in rank or condition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Confer dignity or honor upon

Example:

He was dignified with a title

Synonyms:

dignify; ennoble

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "dignify" is one way to...):

honor; honour; reward (bestow honor or rewards upon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

dignity (the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect)

Credits

 Context examples: 

But the Scarecrow told her about everything, and turning to the dignified little Mouse, he said: Permit me to introduce to you her Majesty, the Queen.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

You seem to be socializing with people outside your industry—indeed, many will come from foreign countries and have dignified professions.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

When men like yourself, who represent the foolish curiosity of the public, came to disturb my privacy I was unable to meet them with dignified reserve.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Sir Walter had taken a very good house in Camden Place, a lofty dignified situation, such as becomes a man of consequence; and both he and Elizabeth were settled there, much to their satisfaction.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

And yet, with all this, he can be courteous, dignified, and kindly upon occasion, and I have seen an impulsive good-heartedness in the man which has made me overlook faults which come mainly from his being placed in a position which no one upon this earth was ever less fitted to fill.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We have had some dramatic entrances and exits upon our small stage at Baker Street, but I cannot recollect anything more sudden and startling than the first appearance of Thorneycroft Huxtable, M.A., Ph.D., etc. His card, which seemed too small to carry the weight of his academic distinctions, preceded him by a few seconds, and then he entered himself—so large, so pompous, and so dignified that he was the very embodiment of self-possession and solidity.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The little airs he put on and the painful striving to assume the easy carriage of a man born to a dignified place in life would have been sickening had they not been ludicrous.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

With the Judge’s sons, hunting and tramping, it had been a working partnership; with the Judge’s grandsons, a sort of pompous guardianship; and with the Judge himself, a stately and dignified friendship.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

They set forward; and, with a grandeur of air, a dignified step, which caught the eye, but could not shake the doubts of the well-read Catherine, he led the way across the hall, through the common drawing-room and one useless antechamber, into a room magnificent both in size and furniture—the real drawing-room, used only with company of consequence.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

He has a fine dignified manner, which suits the head of such a house, and keeps everybody in their place.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)