From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe personification of somethingthe personification of somethingTYPICALsomeone who is a perfect example of a quality because they have a lot of it He became the personification of the financial excess of the 1980s. → personification
Examples from the Corpus
the personification of something• Mait had trained him to be the personification of Death, his own private Baron Samedi.• Their twisted cunning movements were vividly contrasted with those she created for Elihu, the personification of Youth and Truth.• Decibel is the personification of an abstract quality.• The heroine, Maryska, is the personification of female sexuality.• Sarah is the personification of feminine innocence.• Also shown are Leto and probably Ortygia, the personification of the island of Delos.• Gallacher was the personification of scandal.• In so far as Jupiter survived he was the personification of Providence or Destiny.• Its hooting was thought to presage death, for owls were the personification of restless spirits returning to earth to seek revenge. 