manikins

variants also mannikins
plural of manikin
1
as in dolls
a three-dimensional representation of the human body used especially for displaying clothes the store has manikins so lifelike that they have startled me on more than one occasion

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2
as in models
a person who poses with or wears merchandise (as clothes) often for pictorial advertising the undulating movements of the manikins as they strutted down the catwalk

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 manikins The facility was designed to look like a hospital, with an emergency room, intensive care unit, operating rooms, a delivery room complete with mother and child manikins, an intensive care unit and a hospital room. — Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026 Dubbed Zohar and Helga, the manikins — each a life-size 3 feet from head to lower torso — were strapped into the passenger seats of NASA’s Orion capsule. — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026 Most notably, the Orion capsule of 2022’s Artemis I mission was outfitted with more than 5,600 radiation sensors, including some placed within two manikins to measure what astronauts might experience. — Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 31 Mar. 2026 Key components include three simulation suites with a control room capable of running multiple scenarios simultaneously, five programmable manikins, multiple classrooms and flexible learning spaces, workrooms and an American Heart Association Training Center. — Mark Mondier, Arkansas Online, 1 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manikins
Noun
  • The auction features Pee-wee’s iconic gray suit and other costumes, red Schwinn bicycles, dolls, puppets, claymation figures, scripts and more.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • For much of her early life, that single question was the most precious gift Laura had ever been given—more cherished than her Barbies or her Baby Alive or her Sunshine family dolls.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • While rivals such as Goldwind have focused on building bigger turbines, Vestas capped its offshore models at around 15 megawatts.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The cyber community has quickly come to understand that AI models are capable of finding security flaws at a staggering scale.
    — Ali El Kaafarani, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • And members of these new churches were mostly not the black-dressed, hypocritical, sour-faced, monocultural figures favored by popular narrative, but often included colorful figures who were sometimes surprisingly modern in their desires.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Prominent appointments have gone to figures such as Jason Reding Quiñones, a prosecutor who reportedly received low scores on performance evaluations while working at the Southern District of Florida.
    — Eyal Press, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Inside, mannequins dressed in different looks from the collection were interspersed around the bookstore’s 7,000-square-foot space.
    — Donna Kim, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Milena Canonero’s Oscar-winning costumes dress mannequins modeled on Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman, positioned beneath historical portraits and busts in the very rooms where the real figures once danced and broke bread.
    — Ben Croll, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Manikins.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manikins. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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