mirror image
Americannoun
-
an image of an object, plan, person, etc., as it would appear if viewed in a mirror, with right and left reversed.
-
an object having a spatial arrangement that corresponds to that of another object except that the right-to-left sense on one object corresponds to the left-to-right sense on the other.
noun
-
an image as observed in a mirror
-
an object that corresponds to another object in the same way as it would correspond to its image in a mirror
Etymology
Origin of mirror image
First recorded in 1880–85
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.
The careers most at risk are the mirror image: roles built on processing information at scale without deep specialization.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
The cosmic microwave background — the afterglow of the Big Bang — shows a small but persistent asymmetry: a preference for one spatial orientation over its mirror image.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2026
Vladimir Putin's welcome outside the Great Hall of the People was a near mirror image of the reception for Donald Trump last week.
From BBC • May 20, 2026
That is nearly a mirror image of the V-shaped rebound markets have just witnessed.
From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026
In a mirror image above, at least forty people dangle from the ceiling by harnesses, squeegeeing off the already pristine dome ceiling.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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.
