personification

Plural: personifications

Noun

• a person who represents an abstract quality
  • "she is the personification of optimism"
• representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature
• the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc.
• A person, thing or name typifying a certain quality or idea; an embodiment or exemplification.
• A literary device in which an inanimate object or an idea is given human qualities.
• An artistic representation of an abstract quality as a human

Examples

• Adolf Hitler was the personification of anti-Semitism.
• The Grim Reaper is a personification of death.
• The writer used personification to convey her ideas.

Synonyms

incarnation, prosopopoeia

Related Words

pathetic fallacy