epitomise

UK/əˈpɪt.əˌmaɪz/

verbC1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: epitomised, epitomises, epitomising

To epitomise is to be the perfect example of something. Epitomise an era.

The word comes from a summary, since an epitome was once an abridged book. To epitomise something is to stand for far more than yourself.

Definitions of epitomise

1verbepitomiseTo be the perfect example of something.C1
“That building epitomises everything the decade got wrong.”

epitomise is an action.

Also accepted in games: epitomize

Where it comes from

epitomize comes from epitome + -ize.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

epitomise in the wild

"A cult figure in France", according to the BBC, he came to epitomise the team's spirit and "ultra-committed, guts-and-glory style of play".
Jean-Pierre Rives
Chadwick House and the two neighbouring houses epitomise the Arts and Crafts Movement of which Desbrowe-Annear was an exponent and are especially notable as a trio.
Chadwick House
The man alone tends to epitomise existentialism, and, in the words of the academic E.
Man alone
Notable Monagasque works of French architects Charles Garnier and Jules Dutrou epitomise the mixture of other European and historical influences.
Architecture of Monaco

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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