iconic

adjective

icon·​ic ī-ˈkä-nik 

1

: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon

2

a

: widely recognized and well-established

an iconic brand name

b

: widely known and acknowledged especially for distinctive excellence

an iconic writer

a region's iconic wines

iconically

ī-ˈkä-ni-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

The original meaning of iconic was essentially "resembling an icon," but today it often describes what is so admired that it could be the subject of an icon. And with that use, iconic has become part of the language of advertising and publicity: companies and magazines and TV hosts encourage us to think of some consumer item or pop star or show as first-rate or immortal or flawless—absolutely "iconic"—when that person or thing is actually simply widely known and—they assert—distinctively excellent.

Examples of iconic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Whatever the case may be, the Skyscraper Live climb will mark a first for the iconic free solo rock climber. —Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

Southerners have worked the iconic chocolate-and-vanilla flavor into ice cream, fluff, brownies, and even layer cake, though there’s certainly a time and place for the nostalgic dunking of a cookie straight from the blue Oreo packaging into a glass of ice-cold milk. —Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 22 Jan. 2026

All 40 rooms in the low-lying, two-story building look onto the park’s iconic towers, with large windows to catch Patagonia’s expansive steppes and skies. —Sarah Marshall, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026

For more than three decades, Eliminator, a tribute band from Chicago, has electrified audiences with a coast-to-coast celebration of ZZ Top’s iconic sound and style. —Philip Potempa, Chicago Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin īconicus "of a likeness or image," borrowed from Greek eikonikós "(of a statue) in the likeness (of someone)" (Late Greek, "pertaining to or employing images, representative, symbolic"), from eikon-, eikṓn "image, likeness" + -ikos -ic entry 1 — more at icon

First Known Use

1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for iconic

• atonic
• benthonic
• bionic
• bosonic
• bubonic
• canonic
• carbonic
• cyclonic
• demonic
• dystonic
• hadronic
• harmonic