poster child

noun

1

: a child who has a disease and is pictured in posters to solicit funds for combating the disease

2

: a person having a public image that is identified with something (such as a cause)

Examples of poster child in a Sentence

She was a stirring speaker and activist and soon became the poster child of the antiwar movement.

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the last few weeks, Newark Liberty International Airport has been the poster child for issues at the FAA, after a major equipment failure so rattled air traffic controllers, many of them requested trauma leave, leading to days of delays and cancelations. —Zach Wichter, USA Today, 15 May 2025

Whereas Io is the poster child for this mechanism, tidal heating also heats many other worlds, including Io’s neighbor, the icy moon Europa, where the heat is thought to sustain a subterranean saltwater ocean. —Robin George Andrews, Quanta Magazine, 25 Apr. 2025

The billionaire was seen as the poster child of Beijing’s move to rein in the power of private companies and entrepreneurs. —Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 28 Mar. 2025

In fact, Red Hat Enterprise Linux was the poster child for the whole concept 20 years ago. —Jason Andersen, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for poster child

• domiciled
• reconciled
• undefiled
• beguiled
• brainchild
• compiled
• defiled
• exiled
• grandchild
• profiled
• refiled
• reviled