Lionize    (pronounced ly-uh-nyz) verb


Definition

to treat as a celebrity; to regard (a person or thing) as an object of much importance.


Other Forms

Lionization   (pronounced ly-uh-nuh-zay-shun) noun

Main Example

  • The late Johnny Cash was one of our most lionized singers. The winner of 11 Grammys, Cash was a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And, just last month, he was also nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards.

    Workplace Examples

  • I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Lisa get the next promotion. They say even the CEO lionizes her work on that new customer project.

  • Sure, Skip's achievement is extraordinary. I just hope all this lionization won't go to his head.

    Other Examples

  • your commenting to a colleague: "I am a little resentful of the way he is being lionized and made a hero for what I would consider only modest accomplishments."

  • paleontologists lionizing a recent dinosaur discovery because it promises to explain some long-unanswered questions

  • Bill and Melinda Gates being lionized the world over for the billions of dollars they are donating to help fight disease and suffering in the poorest nations of Asia and Africa

  • the extraordinary lionization of the New York City Fire Department in the wake of its sacrifices on Sept. 11

    © 2003 V.J. Singal

    This Month's Other Words

    Insouciant
    Prodigious
    Doctrinal
    Ossified
    Laconic
    Dogged
    Odious

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