Iconic

//aɪˈkɒnɪk// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an icon.
  2. 2
    Distinctive, characteristic, indicative of identity.

    "an iconic move in martial arts"

  3. 3
    Famously and distinctively representative of its type. figuratively

    "For younger musicians, Coltrane’s death became one of those iconic events that stays vividly in the mind."

  4. 4
    Representing something; symbolic.

    "an iconic gesture in sign language"

Adjective
  1. 1
    relating to or having the characteristics of an icon wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
emblematicfamouslexicalsemanticsignaturesymbolic

Example

More examples

"The view of the Earth from the Moon is one of the iconic images of the 20th century."

Etymology

From Late Latin īconicus, from Ancient Greek εἰκονικός (eikonikós). By surface analysis, icon + -ic.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.