stock photo

noun

plural stock photos

: a photographic image of a generic subject (such as a person, object, or location) that is kept for later use

Prevailing wisdom among dealers is that online shoppers prefer real photos of new vehicles in inventory over stock photos from the manufacturer and others.

—David Barkholz

[Suzanne] Rodriguez has more than a decade of experience in digital advertising and professional photography. Stock photos often can be found on the websites of small businesses, but custom photos provide a more accurate characterization of the firm, she said.

—Kevin Oklobzija

When the National Enquirer needed a close-up photo of a snail for one of its … stories, it didn't send a phalanx of photographers out into the garden with cameras in hand. Instead, it called on a small stock photo service in Chatham that specializes in pictures of animals and nature …

—Michael Farrell

Examples of stock photo in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If a clinic avoids producing genuine before-and-after pictures or only gives very heavily retouched, generic stock photos, take that as a red flag. —Rowan Briggs, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2025

Transform your banner into a conversion tool Your banner displays prominently at the top of your profile, yet most people waste it on stock photos or leave the default blue background. —Jodie Cook, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025

The photographers for both as well as the model credited in the apparent stock photos used on Cress’s site did not respond to requests for comment. —Ashley Abramson, Allure, 22 Jan. 2025

Allure found the same portraits on stock photo sites—and the images have been used on several other websites that seem unrelated to SexualAlpha. —Ashley Abramson, Allure, 22 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for stock photo

• doto
• koto
• moto
• roto
• toto
• hashimoto
• telephoto