iconic

adjective

icon·​ic ī-ˈkä-nik 

1

: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an icon

2

a

: widely recognized and well-established

an iconic brand name

b

: widely known and acknowledged especially for distinctive excellence

an iconic writer

a region's iconic wines

iconically

ī-ˈkä-ni-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Did you know?

The original meaning of iconic was essentially "resembling an icon," but today it often describes what is so admired that it could be the subject of an icon. And with that use, iconic has become part of the language of advertising and publicity: companies and magazines and TV hosts encourage us to think of some consumer item or pop star or show as first-rate or immortal or flawless—absolutely "iconic"—when that person or thing is actually simply widely known and—they assert—distinctively excellent.

Examples of iconic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Since then, the house has been helmed by iconic designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard. —Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 10 Apr. 2025

Many travelers who visit Rome, Italy, find themselves at one of the most iconic architectural marvels in the world: the Colosseum. —Ashley J. Dimella Fox News, FOXNews.com, 10 Apr. 2025

Condé Nast is a global media company, home to iconic brands including Vogue, The New Yorker, GQ, Glamour, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair and Wired, among many others. —Vogue, 10 Apr. 2025

The 61-year-old California native began his acting career as heartthrob Blackie Parrish on the daytime soap opera General Hospital in the ’80s and went on to land the iconic role of Jesse Katsopolis on the popular sitcom Full House. —Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 10 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin īconicus "of a likeness or image," borrowed from Greek eikonikós "(of a statue) in the likeness (of someone)" (Late Greek, "pertaining to or employing images, representative, symbolic"), from eikon-, eikṓn "image, likeness" + -ikos -ic entry 1 — more at icon

First Known Use

1656, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for iconic

• atonic
• benthonic
• bionic
• bosonic
• bubonic
• canonic
• carbonic
• cyclonic
• demonic
• dystonic
• hadronic
• harmonic