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Synonyms

pic

1 American  
[pik] / pɪk /

noun

Slang.
  • pix,
    plural
  • pics
    plural
  1. a movie.

  2. a photograph.


pic 2 American  
[peek] / pik /
Or pique

noun

Piquet.
  1. the scoring of 30 points in the declaration of hands and in the play before one's opponent scores a point.

  2. the bonus of 30 points won for so scoring.


pic British  
/ pɪk /

noun

  1. informal a photograph, picture, or illustration

"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 Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of pic1

First recorded in 1880–85; by shortening from picture

Origin of pic2

< French: literally, prick

Explanation

A pic is a photo or a snapshot. When you're visiting the Statue of Liberty, you might hand your camera to a stranger and ask if they'll take your pic. Use the informal pic as a slang term for picture. Your selfie-obsessed friend might insist on snapping pics of himself everywhere he goes, while your grandma might proudly show of the pics of her grandchildren she keeps in her wallet. You can also call a movie a pic. This word might sound fairly modern, but it's been around since the 1880s — not too long after photography was invented.

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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.

See Examples For:

In one photoshopped pic that went viral, Lamine Yamal -- who leads Argentina's opponent, Spain -- is wearing a Brazilian jersey.

From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026

The quick pic is sometimes even more ignorant, because its perpetrators believe they have some kind of special technique to avoid disturbing other patrons.

From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2026

"I was NOT prepared for the placenta pic," wrote one, and another replied: "Placenta and placenta pills were not on my bingo card for today but OK."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025

There’s no Bluesky virality for quote-posting a pic of Timothée Chalamet and the Jenners at a Knicks game.

From Slate ● Jun. 12, 2025

I searched, and shook my head after I had found a pic of the building on my phone.

From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore

In June 2026, following years of speculation regarding engagement rings and viral AI wedding pics, he confirmed they had, in fact, got married.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

That pricey pad is also where the “Gossip Girl” alum flaunts her fashion-forward wardrobe on Instagram, and from those pretty pics, we’ve gotten a peek at the rustic-cool spaces.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

Many Instagram reels later, Sennott’s grid is bedazzled with poses on gala step-and-repeats, snapshots from a Balenciaga campaign and party pics with pop queen Charli XCX.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2025

Vermillio—a service that searches for your likeness around the web—found thousands more fake Smith pics and videos and hundreds of accounts on YouTube, TikTok and elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025

Sure, for about five seconds, I’d contemplated sending him outfit pics and asking which one made me look best.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The collaboration between Billie and the bassiest Echo seems like a direct play for the tweenager room — an assumption bolstered by the frilly boudoir featured in promotional pix for the collab.

From The Verge ● Sep. 22, 2021

There’s no pix, only prose — And the ratings disclose That reviewers say: it’s “poor: no graphic.”

From Washington Post ● Sep. 5, 2019

The pix are perfect and I'd eat anything on their menu with glee.

From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2017

Indeed, the only reason I got into social media was to post pix of my nasal hair on Instagram.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 3, 2016

John Mark is gonna record it all so I can take pix!

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper

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