icon

noun

ˈī-ˌkän How to pronounce icon (audio)
variants also ikon
Definition of iconnext
1
as in hero
a person who is the object of extreme or uncritical devotion Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and other icons of pop culture

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Relevance
2
as in symbol
a written or printed mark that is meant to convey information to the reader the player's remote control is very user-friendly as it doesn't use any icons that you haven't seen a million times before

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3
as in manifestation
a visible representation of something abstract (as a quality) cites Marlene Dietrich as an icon of old-time Hollywood glamour

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4
as in star
a person who is widely known and usually much talked about a sports bar filled with photos of icons from football, basketball, and baseball

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in image
a two dimensional design intended to look like a person or thing any icon of the Deity is regarded as blasphemous by adherents of that religion

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of icon The ensemble also includes Hong Kong screen icon Carina Lau, Japanese star Takeru Satoh, Sisley Choi, Louis Cheung, Yang and Jin. — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026 Stock Chart IconStock chart icon ASML shares year-to-date During the quarter, Samsung and TSMC, the world's two biggest chipmakers, committed to using ASML's High NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. — Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026 Last month, Long, a four-time NAACP Image Award winner, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, literally cementing her status as a film and TV icon. — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026 With starring roles in Postcards From Italy, and motor-racing drama Throttled, the streaming icon is hitting top speed. — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for icon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for icon
  1. hero
  2. symbol
  3. manifestation
  4. star
  5. image
  6. idol
  7. avatar
  8. celebrity
Noun
  • The loss of Flyte and Coe (Tom Brooke) earlier in the season leaves the Horses a little worse for wear, but Slow Horses has one parting blow for our semi-competent hero, River (Jack Lowden), before the season ends.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
  • More are likely, and the ones that stick will be those with a clear hero product and a founder who stays visible.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of hero
Noun
  • Maribeth’s is on Grandma’s old table, where the same three coffee rings from the sixties still make the same old accidental partial Olympic symbol.
    — George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Allison worries everyday fans are being conditioned to see the diamond – or the court or the field – as slot machines and the human athletes as spinning symbols that sometimes align as dollar signs.
    — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of symbol
Noun
  • Turns out, Shakespeare didn’t have to decide, because the story works equally well whether the reader believes the figure is ectoplasm in the castle courtyard or is a psychological manifestation of Hamlet’s nagging conscience.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The demonstrations became a more widespread manifestation of anger and anxiety about education, employment, and general livelihood issues.
    — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of manifestation
Noun
  • Longies, which make up the majority of GRBs, are associated with collapsing supermassive stars, whereas shorties are linked to crashes between two neutron stars.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The Oscar-winning actress and former child star, who had a stroke in 2020, shared a rare photo of herself Friday on social media.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of star
Noun
  • The team sought to identify an anomaly first seen in satellite images in 2020.
    — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The damage and disruption could also affect France’s image as a tourist destination in the long-term.
    — Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of image
Noun
  • That second immunity idol that is a whale, because that means that three tribes are back.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The K-pop romantic comedy follows the virtual idol group LEVRIT with their real identities hidden and a female fan who sees through them.
    — Deadline, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of idol
Noun
  • Welcome to the Jungle focused on a group of teenage friends getting trapped inside a video game as a collection of adult avatars.
    — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026
  • By the end of that dinner in Poland, the mother Nowaczyk-Basińska talked with came to a very different decision about creating a postmortem avatar of her son.
    — Lissa Soep, Vox, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of avatar
Noun
  • Another factor contributing to the hero item phenomenon is the cult of the celebrity designer.
    — Alexandra Hildreth, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Some outcry over the Polymarket contract has been aimed at its celebrity promoters.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of celebrity

Browse Nearby Words

icky
icon
iconoclasm
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Cite this Entry

“Icon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/icon. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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