effigy
a representation or image, especially sculptured, as on a monument.
a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule.
Idioms about effigy
in effigy, in public view in the form of an effigy: a leader hanged in effigy by the mob.
Origin of effigy
1Other words from effigy
- ef·fig·i·al [ih-fij-ee-uhl], /ɪˈfɪdʒ i əl/, adjective
Words Nearby effigy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use effigy in a sentence
In South Carolina, he “appeared suspended, on a gallows seventy feet high” to the right of another stamp collector’s effigy.
The revolutionary roots of satanic panic still invoked in American politics | Zara Anishanslin | August 5, 2022 | Washington PostIt was a festive affair, with a balloon ascending to the sky and effigies of infamous abolitionists to burn along with the newspapers below their feet.
That is why, on those great careening carts Americans hauled through town on Pope’s Day, the pontiff himself, and his hellish master, were made in effigy looking ridiculous, but also monstrous, dressed in tar and feathers.
Before July 4, American colonists celebrated Pope’s Day — an anti-Catholic rallying cry | Grant Stanton | July 2, 2021 | Washington PostPicket signs decried IBM customers in Texas as “traitors,” while the University of Wisconsin YAF hung a cardboard effigy of a computer outside of the Madison office.
Conservatives have long embraced ‘cancel culture’ | Lauren Lassabe | April 16, 2021 | Washington PostThey lit candles at their windows and in front of the many effigies of Maradona that dot Napoli’s streets and its homes, often alongside saints.
In Maradona, the world mourns a legend—but Naples mourns a part of itself | Annalisa Merelli | November 27, 2020 | Quartz
Somebody built an effigy of President Peña Nieto that was 20 feet high.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution | Jason McGahan | November 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhen the civilian President Maduro burns in effigy, soldiers can still warm their hands around the flames.
Venezuela’s Security Forces: A Killer Elite Beyond the Law | Marcel Ventura | April 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMeanwhile, in South Yorkshire, anti-Thatcher activists burned an effigy of the controversial leader.
Overlooked Stories of the Week: Torture Report, Venezuela & More | Nina Strochlic | April 20, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIf diplomatic relations keep deteriorating, an effigy of the queen may not be far behind.
Iranian Riots at British Embassy Portend Troubling Isolationism | Babak Dehghanpisheh | November 30, 2011 | THE DAILY BEASTIn May, an effigy of FitzPatrick was burned on the streets of Dublin.
This was that Alderman Henry Smith whose tomb and effigy are so conspicuous in the parish church.
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries | Charles G. HarperEven if they failed to obtain it the funeral rites were duly paid to an effigy of the deceased.
The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry WithrowSedgrave, the mayor, who had sat quiet during the former service, produced a rosary and prayed openly before the bloody effigy.
Ireland Under the Tudors, Vol. II (of 3) | Richard BagwellIt has his effigy in armour, with an ermined mantle, his feet leaning against a lion couchant.
East Anglia | J. Ewing RitchieThe last flickering embers of the burning effigy died out and the scene was almost dark.
Tom Fairfield's Schooldays | Allen Chapman
British Dictionary definitions for effigy
/ (ˈɛfɪdʒɪ) /
a portrait of a person, esp as a monument or architectural decoration
a crude representation of someone, used as a focus for contempt or ridicule and often hung up or burnt in public (often in the phrases burn or hang in effigy)
Origin of effigy
1Derived forms of effigy
- effigial (ɪˈfɪdʒɪəl), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with effigy
see in effigy.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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