What does dignify mean?
To dignify is to invest a person, act, or thing with dignity — to make it seem worthy, honorable, or elevated. The verb carries two closely related uses. In its positive sense, it describes conferring genuine honor: a medal dignifies years of sacrifice, a fine building dignifies a city street. More often in everyday speech, however, it appears in a pointedly negative construction: to refuse to dignify something with a response or acknowledgment. Saying 'I won't dignify that accusation with an answer' implies the accusation is too trivial or baseless to merit serious attention, making the act of dignifying itself a form of judgment. The word derives from Latin dignus, meaning worthy, the same root that gives us dignity and indignant. Formal but versatile, dignify lets speakers and writers mark distinctions of worth — both to bestow honor where it is deserved and, tellingly, to withhold it where it is not.
To give dignity, honor, or elevated status to someone or something; to make worthy of respect.
"The award served to dignify a career spent largely out of the public eye."
Often used in the negative: refusing to dignify something with a response signals contempt for its seriousness.
To lend an undeserved appearance of respectability or importance to something trivial or unworthy.
"She didn't think the gossip merited enough attention to dignify it with a denial."
Frequently preceded by 'not' or 'refuse to', emphasizing that the honor being withheld is deliberate.
When you refuse to 'dignify a question with an answer,' you're using the word's sharpest trick: withholding honor as a form of judgment.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dignify
Dignify comes from the Old French dignifier and ultimately from the Latin dignificare, formed from dignus (worthy) combined with facere (to make). Thus its literal sense is 'to make worthy.' English adopted the word in the late Middle Ages, and it has carried its dual character ever since: sincerely honoring what deserves honor, or ironically granting honor to what does not. It shares its Latin root with dignity, dignitary, indignant, and condign.
Related word forms
How dignify is actually used
Dignify is somewhat formal in register. Its negative construction — refusing to dignify something with a response — is very common in speech and journalism and carries a dismissive, condescending connotation. The second sense implies the thing being dignified does not truly deserve the honor.
Easily confused with dignify
Dainty means delicately small and pretty, while dignify is a verb meaning to confer honor or importance on something.