biography
noun
Did you know?
So You've Been Asked to Submit a Biography
In a library, the word biography refers both to a kind of book and to a section where books of that kind are found. Each biography tells the story of a real person's life. A biography may be about someone who lived long ago, recently, or even someone who is still living, though in the last case it must necessarily be incomplete. The term autobiography refers to a biography written by the person it's about. Autobiographies are of course also necessarily incomplete.
Sometimes biographies are significantly shorter than a book—something anyone who's been asked to submit a biography for, say, a conference or a community newsletter will be glad to know. Often the word in these contexts is shortened to bio, a term that can be both a synonym of biography and a term for what is actually a biographical sketch: a brief description of a person's life. These kinds of biographies—bios—vary, but many times they are only a few sentences long. Looking at bios that have been used in the same context can be a useful guide in determining what to put in your own.
Examples of biography in a Sentence
Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
You might be drawn to one of these biographies after watching this documentary.
—Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2025
At the heart of every biography, though, lies a lacuna—something unknowable, no matter how candid or heavily documented the subject, no matter how familiar or diligent the biographer.
—Casey Cep, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
If the documentary presented him as a sort of accidental artist, with little other than his id propelling him from drawing to drawing, a more intentional drive emerges in the biography.
—Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for biography
Cite this Entry
“Biography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biography. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
biography
noun
Share