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Synonyms

looking glass

American  

noun

  1. a mirror made of glass with a metallic or amalgam backing.

  2. the glass used in a mirror.

  3. anything used as a mirror, as highly polished metal or a reflecting surface.

looking glass British  

noun

  1. a mirror, esp a ladies' dressing mirror

"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

adjective

  1. with normal or familiar circumstances reversed; topsy-turvy

    a looking-glass world
"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

Etymology

Origin of looking glass

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

An image like that might have hit its target a few years ago, but we’re well through the looking glass now.

From Slate • Aug. 26, 2025

To understand what’s up with her mom, she’ll have to go through the looking glass.

From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2024

"Defendants have clearly stepped through the looking glass."

From Reuters • Sep. 22, 2023

"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" is a traditional "Trek" alternate universe adventure where key characters are pushed through the looking glass to right something gone wrong on a cosmic scale.

From Salon • Jul. 1, 2023

A looking glass had been dashed to thousands of pieces, and the gilt frame torn apart.

From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.