In the sentence provided, "an unshelled fish is lively and elusive past the power of words to portray and this undoubtedly lies its desirability," the definition of "portray" that has the closest meaning is "to describe in words." This is because the context indicates that the speaker is referring to the limitations of language in capturing the essence or qualities of the fish.
potray:to paint or draw the likeness of; as, to protray a king on horseback
hence, fituratively to describe in words
to adorn with pictures
to decorate
which definition has the closest meaning to portray as it is used in this sentence
an unshelled fish is lively and elusive past the power of words to portray and this undoubtedly lies it's desirability
1 answer