deification

Or they knew her story through the lens of her deification.

The cultlike deification of Mr. Obama as some kind of White House celebrity broke the political press in Washington.

She said that some in the university community embrace an “unhealthy deification” of Mr. Jefferson, adding, “That can be coded language for a lot of things.”

And its rigid hierarchy and customs do not mesh well with the deification of liberty and individualism that permeate U.S. culture.

Even students goofing off in the back should catch on that Neil is still enchanted by the frisson of deification that sometimes descends from heaven into a classroom.