lionize

• lionise (non-Oxford British English)

From lion +‎ -ize.

• enPR: lī'-ə-nīz, IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪənaɪz/

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lionize (third-person singular simple present lionizes, present participle lionizing, simple past and past participle lionized) (American spelling, Oxford British English)

1. (transitive) To treat (a person) as if they were important, or a celebrity.
   • 1980 October, Douglas Adams, chapter 18, in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 106:

     Flare-riding is one of the most exotic and exhilarating sports in existence, and those who can dare and afford to do it are amongst the most lionized men in the Galaxy.

     An adjective use.

   • 2021 June 3, Katherine Eban, “The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19’s Origins”, in Vanity Fair‎:

     He died of COVID-19 in February, lionized by the Chinese public as a hero and whistleblower.

   • 2025 March 15, A.C. Thompson, James Bandler, “The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram: Inside a Global Online Hate Network”, in ProPublica‎:

     In early March, a person who had a history of posting Nazi imagery shared a 21-second video lionizing Juraj Krajčík. The clip shows one of his victims lying dead on the pavement.

2. (transitive) To visit (a famous place) in order to revere it.

• “lionize”, in Oxford Learner's Dictionaries