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

But the odds of RFK Jr.’s defeat are shrinking, and Cassidy’s thumbs-up may one day be remembered as the mirror image of John McCain’s thumbs-down from 2017, when that independent-minded senator doomed Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. —Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2025

Harris then appeared as the mirror image of Rudolph to offer advice. —Mary Spicuzza, Journal Sentinel, 3 Nov. 2024

The idea is to pick and choose what fits you best, to look at your closet and see a reflection of you and not a mirror image of trends throughout the years. —Laia Garcia-Furtado, Vogue, 9 Oct. 2024

On the red carpet, Kim’s left breast was almost entirely revealed by an asymmetrical cut — a mirror image of Jenner’s neckline — save for a matching purple nipple pasty. —Leah Dolan, CNN, 25 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for mirror image

• scrimmage

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