stock photo

noun

plural stock photos

: a photographic image of a generic subject (such as a person, object, or location) that is kept for later use

Prevailing wisdom among dealers is that online shoppers prefer real photos of new vehicles in inventory over stock photos from the manufacturer and others.

—David Barkholz

[Suzanne] Rodriguez has more than a decade of experience in digital advertising and professional photography. Stock photos often can be found on the websites of small businesses, but custom photos provide a more accurate characterization of the firm, she said.

—Kevin Oklobzija

When the National Enquirer needed a close-up photo of a snail for one of its … stories, it didn't send a phalanx of photographers out into the garden with cameras in hand. Instead, it called on a small stock photo service in Chatham that specializes in pictures of animals and nature …

—Michael Farrell

Examples of stock photo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

High-quality photos are essential for print media because physical marketing materials require large image sizes and high resolution that standard smartphone cameras or basic stock photos may not provide. —Anthony Savino, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026

The International Esperanto Naturist Organization showered passersby with pamphlets featuring stock photos of aspirationally fit, naked bodies. —Katie Thornton, Harpers Magazine, 26 May 2026

Above is the stock photos of the items the man was wearing when he was pulled from the water at Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve on Friday, April 17. —Jeramie Bizzle, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026

Several similar photos of the same church can be found on the stock photo site Getty Images. —Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stock photo

• doto
• koto
• moto
• roto
• toto
• hashimoto
• telephoto