mirror image

noun

1

a

: something that has its parts reversely arranged in comparison with another similar thing or that is reversed with reference to an intervening axis or plane

b

: the direct opposite

2

: image sense 4

Synonyms

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

Examples of mirror image in a Sentence

The left side of the building is a mirror image of the right.

looking at the idealistic intern, the elderly physician could not help but see the mirror image of himself 40 years earlier

Recent Examples on the Web

That said, the sheer number of neurons doesn’t adequately account for human cognition — your brain is more than the inflated mirror image of a chimpanzee’s. —Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2024

The Best Way to See Foliage: Hike the Lakes Loop around Reflection Lake, which is famous for holding the mirror image of Mount Rainier on calm, clear days. —Graham Averill, Outside Online, 16 Sep. 2024

Zoom in: The post-debate spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center was a mirror image of the one at the Biden-Trump debate in Atlanta just 11 weeks ago. —Alex Thompson, Axios, 11 Sep. 2024

For instance, the price of soot at Qinhuangdao used to be the mirror image of the national coal inventory: When inventories were high, prices at the port east of Beijing slipped because supplies were ample, and vice versa. —David Fickling, Twin Cities, 11 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

mirror image

noun

: something that has its parts joined together in much the same way as those of something else except that each part of one thing is directly opposite to the corresponding part of the other thing and located on the opposite side of, the same distance away from, and facing in the same way toward or away from an axis or plane between the two things

the two sides of an animal with bilateral symmetry are mirror images of each other

Medical Definition

mirror image

noun

: something that has its parts reversely arranged in comparison with another similar thing or that is reversed with reference to an intervening axis or plane