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

The new strategy aims to leverage Ford’s iconic brand while simultaneously signaling that the car company is entering a new era, Materazzo said. —Laya Neelakandan, CNBC, 10 Sep. 2025

Tom Shipley of the iconic Kansas City folk/rock duo Brewer & Shipley has died at the age of 84. —Dan Kelly, Kansas City Star, 9 Sep. 2025

Reservoir Media has closed a deal to acquire Miles Davis’s publishing catalog, the company announced on Tuesday, giving Reservoir ownership over one of the most iconic catalogs in the history of jazz music. —Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2025

Shake Shack is serving its iconic burgers with a new twist. —Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025

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