portray
por·tray/pɔːˈtɹeɪ̯/verb
portray is spelled P-O-R-T-R-A-Y, 2 syllables: por·tray. The wrong spelling people search most is protray: about 50 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 16 of all searches for the word. Portray is a verb meaning “To paint or draw the likeness of”.
How many letters and syllables are in portray?
| Letters | 7: P-O-R-T-R-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: por·tray |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, protray, about 50 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell portray?
Portray is spelled P-O-R-T-R-A-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 16 of the searches for portray in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is portray?
Portray appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce portray?
- UK /pɔːˈtɹeɪ̯/
- UK [pʰɔːˈtɹ̝̊eɪ̯]
- Australia /poːˈtɹæ̝ɪ̯/
Portray has 2 syllables, split por·tray in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-portray.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with portray?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as portray from its last stressed vowel (/eɪ/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of portray
- portrays present, singular, he/she/it
- portraying participle, present
- portrayed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does portray mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To paint or draw the likeness of.
I will portray a king on horseback.
- 2
To represent by an image or look.
- 3
To describe in words; to convey.
- 4
To play a role; to depict a character, person, situation, or event.
For my next movie, I will be portraying Shakespeare.
- 5
obsoleteTo adorn.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Portray in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dépeindre, représenter, portraire , décrire |
| German | porträtieren, abmalen |
| Portuguese | retratar |
| Spanish | retratar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does portray come from?
From Middle English portray, from Middle French portraire.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).