Personification
noun /pəˌsɒnɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ — Giving human qualities to non-human things — letting the world speak, feel, and ache.
Definition
A figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to an abstraction, animal, or inanimate object — making the non-human vivid through human feeling.
Beyond the definition
Personification is how we make the world feel alive — grief that waits at the door, winter that reaches its fingers in. It doesn't just describe; it animates. The non-human becomes someone you can feel for.
Origin & history
From Latin persona (mask, character) + facere (to make). To make a character. The rhetorical device of making things into persons.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
'The wind whispered through the trees' — personification gives the wind a voice it doesn't literally have.
She personified everything in her writing — regret sat heavily in chairs; joy arrived suddenly, uninvited.
Personification makes abstraction emotional: 'Fear knocked at the door, and when he answered, no one was there.'
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Personification” when the meaning fits your context: A figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to an abstraction, animal, or inanimate object — making the non-human vivid through human feeling.
Synonyms
anthropomorphism, humanization, attribution
Antonyms
literalism, abstraction
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Conceptual Tree Seasonal Layers
A single botanical composition shows a tree with bare twigs on one side, budding leaves on another, and fallen brown leaves on the ground beneath.
Personification attributes human characteristics to non-human objects. By depicting the tree as going through multiple seasons simultaneously, the image gives it a sense of character and agency, allowing it to embody a living, changing life story that reflects human cycles of growth, aging, and rebirth in a way that feels inherently human.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration
Questions about this word
What does "Personification" mean?
Personification is noun meaning: Giving human qualities to non-human things — letting the world speak, feel, and ache.. A figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to an abstraction, animal, or inanimate object — making the non-human vivid through human feeling.
Where does the word "Personification" come from?
From Latin persona (mask, character) + facere (to make). To make a character. The rhetorical device of making things into persons.