What does "incarnate" mean?
To embody in flesh; to invest with a bodily, especially a human, form.
Incarnate
/ɪnˈkɑːɹ.nɪt/ adj, verb
adj, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To embody in flesh; to invest with a bodily, especially a human, form.
- Grammar: incarnate is listed as adj, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: embody, adumbrate, affect, atavistic.
- Useful contrasts: discarnate, abstract, avoid.
- Usage evidence: The animal lacks both anxiety and hope because its consciousness is restricted to what is clearly evident and thus to the present moment: the animal is the present incarnate.
How to use "incarnate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "incarnate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "incarnate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "incarnate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "incarnate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "incarnate" is acting as adj, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "embody" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "incarnate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To embody in flesh; to invest with a bodily, especially a human, form. intransitive
"For one thing, we virtually decided that these morbidities and the hellish Himalayan Mi-Go were one and the same order of incarnated nightmare."
- 2 make concrete and real wordnet
- 3 To gain full existence (bodily or otherwise). broadly, intransitive
"SCP-3125 incarnated the following winter."
- 4 represent in bodily form wordnet
- 5 To incarn; to become covered with flesh; to heal over. intransitive, obsolete
"My uncle Toby’s wound was near well, and as soon as the surgeon recovered his surprize, and could get leave to say as much—he told him, 'twas just beginning to incarnate."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To make carnal; to reduce the spiritual nature of. transitive
"This essence to incarnate and imbrute, / That to the height of deity aspired."
- 7 To put into or represent in a concrete form, as an idea. figuratively, transitive
"Truly, that special world presented itself to me as the arena of my perceptual activity and therefore as the world of my first reading. The texts, the words, the letters of that context were incarnated in a series of things, objects, and signs."
Adjective
- 1 Embodied in flesh; given a bodily, especially a human, form; personified. not-comparable
"Here shalt thou sit incarnate."
- 2 Not in the flesh; spiritual. not-comparable, rare
"I fear nothing […] that devil carnate or incarnate can fairly do."
- 3 Flesh-colored; crimson. not-comparable, obsolete
"Yards of Turkey silk incarnate."
Adjective
- 1 invested with a bodily form especially of a human body wordnet
- 2 possessing or existing in bodily form wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"The animal lacks both anxiety and hope because its consciousness is restricted to what is clearly evident and thus to the present moment: the animal is the present incarnate."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "incarnate"?
Common synonyms include: embody, adumbrate, affect, atavistic, betoken, bodied.
How do you use "incarnate" in a sentence?
The animal lacks both anxiety and hope because its consciousness is restricted to what is clearly evident and thus to the present moment: the animal is the present incarnate.
How do you pronounce "incarnate"?
Pronounced /ɪnˈkɑːɹ.nɪt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
First attested in 1395, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English incarnat(e) (“(of God or Christ) embodied in human form or flesh, incarnate; provided with new tissues, healed; (with devel, in curses) bloody”), borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin incarnātus, perfect passive participle of incarnor (“to be made flesh, become incarnate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- + Latin carō (“flesh”, carn- in its oblique stem) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).
Etymology 2
First attested in 1533; borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin incarnātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
Etymology 3
From in- + carnate.