mirror image

noun

1

a

: something that has its parts reversely arranged in comparison with another similar thing or that is reversed with reference to an intervening axis or plane

b

: the direct opposite

2

: image sense 4

Synonyms

• image
• twin
• replica
• picture
• clone
• portrait
• duplicate

Examples of mirror image in a Sentence

The left side of the building is a mirror image of the right.

looking at the idealistic intern, the elderly physician could not help but see the mirror image of himself 40 years earlier

Recent Examples on the Web

Right-wing politicians who label all critics of Israel antisemites are the mirror image of those who assume that all Jews are Zionists and all Zionists are racists. —Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025

The unknotting number of both the (2, 7) torus knot and its mirror image is 3. —Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 22 Sep. 2025

The Colorado End of Life Options Act is a mirror image of the Oregon law. —Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 20 Sep. 2025

Between 2016 and 2020, there was a lot of polling data being put out into the world that created a funhouse mirror image of what the American people actually thought, and dramatically overstated public support for a bunch of progressive policies. —David Weigel, semafor.com, 19 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for mirror image

• scrimmage

Kids Definition

mirror image

noun

: something that has its parts joined together in much the same way as those of something else except that each part of one thing is directly opposite to the corresponding part of the other thing and located on the opposite side of, the same distance away from, and facing in the same way toward or away from an axis or plane between the two things

the two sides of an animal with bilateral symmetry are mirror images of each other

Medical Definition

mirror image

noun

: something that has its parts reversely arranged in comparison with another similar thing or that is reversed with reference to an intervening axis or plane