glorify

Glorify is a verb meaning to praise, honor, or idealize something or someone, often presenting them in an especially favorable or exalted light. It can also mean to worship or reverence a deity or ideal. The corresponding noun is glorification, and the related adjective is glorious.

Etymology traces glorify to the Latin glorificare, from gloria meaning glory, with the English suffix -fy meaning to make or become. The term has long appeared in religious contexts and has since spread into secular usage in rhetoric, art, media, and everyday speech.

Usage and nuance: In religious contexts, to glorify God or the divine is to magnify and honor the sacred. In secular discourse, to glorify something can be neutral or positive, as when praising achievements or virtues. However, it can carry a critical tint if it suggests excessive, unrealistic, or propagandistic praise—for example, a film that glorifies violence or a political speech that glorifies a leader beyond objective assessment.

See also: glorification, glory, glorious, gloriously, glorified.

In sum, glorify denotes the act of elevating praise or honor, with meaning that shifts along a spectrum from reverent worship to enthusiastic endorsement, depending on context.