Profile definition

prōfīl
profiled profiles profiling
See word origin
Frequency:
Degree of exposure to public notice; visibility.

Preferred to keep a low profile.

noun
15
9
To sketch, write, or make a profile of.
verb
11
5
A view of anything in contour; outline.

The profile of a distant hill.

noun
10
4
To engage in the ethnic or racial profiling of (a person).
verb
6
2
To produce a profile of.

Profiled the singer in a magazine article.

verb
6
3
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A graph, diagram, piece of writing, etc. presenting or summarizing data relevant to a particular person or thing.
noun
2
0
An outline of an object.
noun
4
4
A degree of exposure to or contact with others, esp. the public.

A celebrity who keeps a low profile after a scandal.

noun
1
1
(countable) A summary or collection of information, especially about a person.

Law enforcement assembled a profile of the suspect.

noun
1
1
(countable) A specific space or field in which users can provide various types of personal information in software or Internet systems.

I just updated my Facebook profile to show I got engaged.

noun
1
1
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(geology) A vertical section of soil or rock showing the sequence of the various layers.
noun
0
0
A side view of an object or structure, especially of the human head.
noun
0
0
A representation of an object or structure seen from the side.
noun
0
0
A set of characteristics that identify or are thought to identify a particular type of person.

The police assembled a profile of the car thief.

noun
0
0
A formal summary or analysis of data, often in the form of a graph or table, representing distinctive features or characteristics.

A biochemical profile of blood.

noun
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0
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(archit.) A side or sectional elevation of a building, etc.
noun
0
0
A side view of the face.
noun
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0
A drawing of such a view.
noun
0
0
A set of characteristics developed for use in identifying a particular person or thing as likely to belong to a certain group, to engage in a certain activity, etc.
noun
0
0
The definition of a profile is the side view of someone or something or a brief biography of a person.

An example of a profile is an artist painting a portait of the left side of a person's face.

noun
1
2
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To draw or shape a profile of.
verb
1
2
Profile is defined as to create an overview about a person or thing.

An example of to profile is to write a paragraph about a person describing their strengths and accomplishments.

verb
0
1
A short, vivid biographical and character sketch.
noun
0
1
To give or assign a specified profile to.
verb
0
1
To identify or single out by means of a profile of.
verb
0
1
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A side view of an object or a structure, especially of the human head.
noun
0
1
A formal summary or analysis of data, as of blood, representing distinctive features or characteristics, often in the form of a graph or table.
noun
0
1
(countable) The outermost shape, view, or edge of an object.

His fingers traced the profile of the handle.

noun
0
1
(countable) The shape, view, or shadow of a person's head from the side; a side view.

The brooch showed the profile of a Victorian woman.

noun
0
1
(uncountable) Reputation.
noun
0
1
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(uncountable) The amount by which something protrudes.

Choose a handle with a low profile so it does not catch on things.

noun
0
1
(uncountable) Prominence; noticeability.

Acting is, by nature, profession in which one must keep a high profile.

noun
0
1
(archaeology) A smoothed (e.g., troweled or brushed) vertical surface of an excavation showing evidence of at least one feature or diagnostic specimen; the graphic recording of such as by sketching, photographing, etc.
noun
0
1
Character; totality of related characteristics; signature; status (especially in scientific, technical, or military uses).

What's the thermal profile on that thing?

noun
0
1
(architecture) A section of any member, made at right angles with its main lines, showing the exact shape of mouldings etc.
noun
0
1
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(civil engineering) A drawing exhibiting a vertical section of the ground along a surveyed line, or graded work, as of a railway, showing elevations, depressions, grades, etc.
noun
0
1
To create a summary or collection of information, especially about a person.
verb
0
1
To act based on such a summary; especially, to act on a stereotype. See profiling.
verb
0
1
A biographical account presenting the subject's most noteworthy characteristics and achievements.
noun
0
2

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
profile
Plural:
profiles

Origin of profile

  • Italian profilo from profilare to draw in outline pro- forward (from Latin prō- pro–1) filare to draw a line (from Medieval Latin fīlāre to spin) (from Latin fīlum thread gwhī- in Indo-European roots)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From French profil (“a profile”), from Italian profilo (“a border”), later also proffilo (“a side-face, profile”), from pro-, from Latin pro (“before”) + filo (“a line, stroke, thread”), from Latin filum (“a thread”); see file.

    From Wiktionary

Profile Sentence Examples

  • She leaned back against his arm, watching his profile as he looked out the window.

  • Only his profile existed in her quest.

  • Focusing on his profile, she willed him to look her way.

  • She turned and studied his stoic profile anxiously.

  • Animals in profile are represented more naturalistically than human beings, e.g.

More sentences

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Also Mentioned In

Words near profile in the Dictionary