Definition

Noun: 1. A biography that idealizes or idolizes its subject: A written account of a person's life that presents them in an overly flattering, uncritical, or reverential manner, often omitting their flaws or failures. This is especially common in biographies of saints or religious figures. 2. ​The study or writing of the lives of saints: The body of literature concerning the lives, deeds, and miracles of saints.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Idealizing Biography):
  • The biography was less a critical history and more a hagiography, portraying the politician as a flawless hero.
  • Many corporate histories are essentially hagiographies of their founders.
• Noun (Lives of Saints):
  • Medieval hagiography is an important source for understanding the religious culture of the period.
  • The library's collection includes several ancient manuscripts of Christian hagiography.

Advanced Usage

• Used critically: In modern secular usage, the term is often used pejoratively to criticize any biography or profile that is excessively admiring and lacks objective analysis.
  • The article was dismissed as pure hagiography, failing to address any of the leader's controversial policies.

Variants and Related Words

• Hagiographer (noun): A writer of hagiography; a biographer who idealizes their subject.
• Hagiographic (adjective): Having the characteristics of hagiography; excessively flattering or reverential.
  • The film took a hagiographic approach to its subject.

Synonyms

• Panegyric: A public speech or published text in praise of someone or something.
• Eulogy: A speech or piece of writing that praises someone highly, typically someone who has just died.
• Deification: The action of making someone or something into a god; idealization.

Idioms and Related Phrases

• A whitewash: An attempt to conceal unpleasant facts about someone or something.
  • The official report was a whitewash, much like a hagiography.

Noun

1. a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person (especially a person who is a saint)