spitting image

noun

plural spitting images

: someone or something that looks very much like someone or something else

Father then and son later are spitting images of each other.

—Norris McDonald

—usually singular

Naimah was brown-skinned, slender, and neighbors said she was the spitting image of her mother.

—Debbie Chocolate

… a lovely … Oscar de la Renta dress, which was the spitting image of a similar one the late royal had worn previously.

—Megan C. Hill

Synonyms

• alter ego
• carbon
• carbon copy
• clone
• counterpart
• doppelgänger
• doppelganger
• double
• duplicate
• duplication
• facsimile
• fetch
• image
• likeness
• look-alike
• match
• mirror image
• picture
• replica
• ringer
• spit
• twin

Examples of spitting image in a Sentence

with the help of either movie magic or makeup, the actress appeared to be the spitting image of the queen

Recent Examples on the Web

Among all of the stars on the red carpet were two lucky celebrity doppelgängers who made waves at lookalike contests earlier this year: Miles Mitchell, who is the spitting image of A Complete Unknown star Timothée Chalamet, and Maxwell Braunstein, a mirror of Hit Man actor Glen Powell. —Luke Chinman, People.com, 6 Jan. 2025

Princess Charlotte looked the spitting image of her mother, also wearing a Christmassy red coat. —Isaac Bickerstaff, Glamour, 6 Dec. 2024

Back in May, Kardashian shared a throwback video that had many fans believing that her daughter was the spitting image of her. —Charlotte Phillipp, People.com, 24 Oct. 2024

Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors Barron Trump is a spitting image of his father –– at least according to the Internet. —Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration of spit and image

First Known Use

1881, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

spitting image

noun

: perfect likeness